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GopyrigM 

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THE IRISH 

IN THE REVOLUTION 
AND THE CIVIL WAR. 

REVISED AND ENLARGED 
EMBRACING THE 

SPANISH- AMERICAN 
AND PHILIPPINE 
WARS AND EVERY 
WALK OF LIFE 




BY DR, J. C. O'CONNELL 

THE TRADES UNIONIST PRESS.. WASHINGTON, D. C. 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Receiver? 

AUG 26 1903 

/ Copyright Entry 
CLASS £~ XXc No 
COPY B. 



Copyrighted 1895, 1903 
By Dr. J. C. O'Connell 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION 

Our American citizens of Irish descent whose 
fathers fought in the Revolution may well be 
proud of the record made by their race on every 
battlefield from Stony Point to Yorktown. 

There was not a battlefield on which Irish 
blood did not flow freely and the Sunburst was 
not side by side with the red, white and blue. 

General Sullivan and John Langdon struck the 
first blow of the Revolution. 

General Sullivan's father was born in Limerick, 
Ireland. He left four sons. One of them, John, 
was a delegate to Congress, and would have been 
one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence had not his sword been mightier than his 
pen. He commanded one of the two divisions 
of the army at Trenton. 

Joseph Reed was born in Trenton, N. J., in 
1742. His father was born in Ireland. 

General Reed was Washington's private sec- 
retary and bosom friend. He was one of the 
most prominent figures in the Revolution. He it 
was who would not receive Lord Howe's letter 
to Washington unless addressed in language that 



4 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION 



courtesy to the commanding officer demanded. 
Who will ever forget his memorable reply to 
the offer which the British government made 
him — $50,000 and the best gift in His Majesty's 
keeping — if he would desert the cause of Wash- 
ington ? "I am not worth purchasing, but the 
King of Great Britain is not rich enough to do 
it." Reed was in the fight at Monmouth. He 
figured in the thickest of that memorable fight. 

Gen. John Stark, of New Hampshire, was born 
of Irish parents. He was all Irish himself. He 
commanded at the battle of Bennington, and cov- 
ered himself with glory in preventing the British 
from gaining control of the Hudson River. 

Gen. Richard Montgomery was born in Ireland, 
County Donegal. He laid down his young life 
for the cause of American liberty six months 
before the signing of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. 

Daniel Morgan was born in County Deny, Ire- 
land, and was the hero of one of the proudest 
events of the Revolution. At the head of five 
hundred Irish- American soldiers, at the battle of 
the Cowpens, he captured the British General and 
his force. It was one of the grandest achieve- 
ments of the war to see each of the five hundred 



THE} IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION 5 

American soldiers returning triumphantly with 
a British prisoner. General Morgan is repre- 
sented in the beautiful painting by Trumbull of 
Burgoyne's surrender, dressed in a white hunt- 
ing shirt. It is in the rotunda of the Capitol. 

Maj. Stephen Moylan was born in Cork. His 
brother was the Bishop of Cork, Ireland. He 
was a prominent officer in the Revolutionary war. 

Gen. Edward Hand was born in County Kerry, 
Ireland. He was invaluable to Washington. 

Gen. William Irving was one of Washington's 
warmest friends. He was born in County Clare, 
Ireland. He had a brother, Matthew, who was a 
famous surgeon in Lee's Legion. 

Gen. Henry Knox was the son of the Boston 
Knox who was born in Ireland. General Knox 
was the founder of the Order of the Cincinnatus. 
He was probably the most illustrious soldier of 
the Revolution after Washington. He married 
the daughter of a prominent Tory. When he 
fled from Boston his wife followed him, carrying 
his sword under her dress. 

Gen. Andrew Lewis, of Donegal, Ireland, was 
a most conspicuous figure in the war. He was 
very near being placed at the head of the Army, 
and it looked at one time as' if he would super- 
sede Washington in command. 



6 THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION 

The O'Briens, of Machias, were of County 
Cork, Ireland. They organized ' 'The Sons of 
Liberty," and carried their ''Liberty Poles" — 
tall trees, stripped of their branches, except a 
tuft of Irish green at the top — " the wearing of 
the green." They captured the English ship 
Margaretta with a lumber sloop. This was the 
first naval engagement. 

Gen. William Thompson, born in Ireland, com- 
manded eight divisions of Pennsylvania Irish 
Riflemen, and was commander-in-chief of the 
Army of the North. 

Anthony Wayne was born of Irish parents. 
His father, who was named Isaac, settled in 
Pennsylvania. Wayne was made a general in 
1777. He fought at Germantown and Brand} 7 - 
wine. At the battle of Germantown the right 
was commanded by two Irishmen — Wayne and 
Sullivan. Wayne charged his part of the field 
and carried it. His horse was shot under him. 
Wayne and Ramsey, both Irish, saved the army 
from Lee's treacherous retreat at Monmouth. 
Knox's artillery, Wayne's bayonets, and Mor- 
gan's rifles, all Irish, wrote the history of the 
battle of Monmouth. The great achievement of 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION 7 

the war was the storming of Stony Point. Wash- 
ington selected General Wayne from amidst the 
officers of his army for this marvelous enterprise. 
At Yorktown he was most irresistible. 

At the battles of Bennington, Stony Point, the 
Cowpens, and King's Mountain the Irish com- 
manded in person. There is not a battlefield of 
the Revolution in which Irish genius did not 
shine forth and Irish blood flow freely. Several 
families contributed five or six members and two 
or three generals to the holy cause of American 
independence. 

Gen. John Armstrong, born in Ireland, who 
settled in Pennsylvania, fought under Washing- 
ton at Brandywine and Germantown. His son, 
John, who was aid to Gates and Mercer, carried 
General Mercer, mortally wounded, off the field 
in his arms at the battle of Princeton. 

Richard Butler was born in Ireland. He was 
the eldest of five brothers. 

General Campbell, born of Irish parents, com- 
manded at King's Mountain, the most important 
battle of the South, except the battle of Cowpens. 

De Witt Clinton was United States Senator and 
Governor of New York. His father, James, was 
a native of Longford, Ireland. 



8 THK IRISH IN THK REVOLUTION 



General Graham fought at Charlotte, N. C: 
He fought nineteen engagements before he was 
nineteen years old. With one hundred Amer- 
icans he captured a British force of six hundred. 
His name was covered with honor and his body 
with the honorable scars of warfare. 

Brave Col. Kphraim Blaine was of Irish blood, 
and the progenitor of James G. Blaine, the greatest 
of American statesmen. 

Dr. Caldwell, the fighting preacher of New 
Jersey, was Irish. His house and church the 
British burned, and his wife they shot amid the 
flames. 

William Livingston was a noted Irish Presby- 
terian preacher. 

William Patterson, member of Congress, United 
States Senator, and judge of the Supreme Court, 
was born at sea of Irish parents. 

Thomas Fitzsimmons, of Pennsylvania, was a 
partner of George Meade, the grandfather of 
General Meade, the hero of Gettysburg. Meade 
and Fitzsimmons were Irish and Catholic. 

Delaware sent George Reed, whose father was 
born in Dublin, Ireland. 

James McHenry, of Maryland, served on the 
staff of Washington and was Secretary of War 
in 1796. He was a native of Ireland. 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION 9 

Dr. Rogers, of New York ; Dr. McWhorter, 
of New Jersey ; Dr. Allison, of Baltimore, and 
the Catholics, with Archbishop Carroll, of Mary- 
land, at their head, were all with Washington 
and Independence. 

The most eloquent and enthusiastic leaders of 
the Revolution were found among the Irish con- 
tingent of American patriots. 

Rutledge and Lynch, of South Carolina ; Reed 
and McKean, of Delaware, and Carroll, of Car- 
rollton, Md., were signers of the Declaration of 
Independence. 

When Colonel Tilghman, of Maryland, rode 
from Yorktown to Philadelphia with the glad- 
some tidings that Cornwallis had surrendered, he 
rode direct to the house of Thomas McKean, the 
Irish President of the Continental Congress. It 
was a grand glorious midnight ride through the 
city of Philadelphia, the cradle of American In- 
dependence. He reached the house and by vio- 
lently knocking aroused the President from his 
slumbers. The watchman soon after announced 
the hour: " Half-past twelve o'clock and Corn- 
wallis is taken." The citizens poured into the 
streets. The bonfires and illuminations of that 
night proclaimed the culmination of the sacri- 
fices and patriotism of the American soldiers. 



IO THK IRISH IN THK REVOLUTION 



The old bell in the State House sounded in ter- 
rible notes the glad tidings and the cannons 
thundered in response. The American Congress 
hastily assembled and the venerable C. Thomp- 
son, Secreretary, read with an impressive voice 
Washington's dispatch announcing the surrender 
of Cornwallis. 



THE IRISH IN THE CIVIL WAR 

As the first blow for American Independence 
was struck by an Irishman, Gen. John Sullivan, 
who led the assault on Fort William and Mary, 
before the cannon roar at I^exington reverber- 
ated throughout every Middlesex village and 
farm, so the first shot fired in the late civil war in 
defense of American liberty was fired by an Irish- 
man, Patrick Gibbons, at Fort Sumter, April 12, 
1861. 

The first general officer killed in the war of 
Independence was an Irishman. 

The first officer who reached little Round Top 
at Gettysburg, Meade's chief signal station, 
where the bloodiest fighting of the day took place, 
was another Irishman, Col. Patrick O'Roark, w ho 
was killed at the head of his men. 



THE IRISH IN THE CIVIL WAR 



1 1 



The first officer that surprised a fort by land in 
the war of the Revolution, was General Wayne, 
the son of an Irishman. 

The first officer who flung Old Glory to the 
breeze on the sacred soil of Old Virginia, at Fort 
Corcoran, after the firing on Fort Sumter, was an 
Irishman, Michael Corcoran, a Tipperary boy, 
afterward General Corcoran. 

The first officer of artillery appointed in the 
War of Independence was the son of an Irishman, 
Gen. Henry Knox. 

The first officer appointed in the Navy was an 
Irishman, Commodore Barry, father of the Amer- 
ican Navy, who, when hailed by the British man- 
of-war, replied, "I am saucy Jack Barry, half 
Irish, half Yankee; who the devil are you?" 
John Barry captured the Edward, the first British 
war vessel captured by a commissioned officer of 
the United States Navy. In 1794 he was named 
senior officer with rank of commodore. He sleeps 
his last sleep in old St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, 
in Philadelphia, Pa. 

The first victory gained at sea in the Revolu- 
tion was gained by the O'Brien brothers. 

The last blow struck in the late war, that 
resulted in the surrender of Lee, was struck by 



1 2 THE IRISH IN THE CIVII, WAR 

Sheridan. He was the first officer that reached 
the heights of Missionary Ridge. Grant pro- 
nounced him the greatest soldier that the world 
ever produced. 

The citizens of Philadelphia trembled, and 
their lips paled on that terrible July of 1863, 
when they heard the roar of the Confederate 
cannons at their doors at Gettysburg. News 
soon came that Erin's flag, the Sunburst, waved 
side by side with the starry banner at the Bloody 
Angle. The spot is pointed out in the beautiful 
painting by Rothermel of the battle of Gettys- 
burg. 

The Irish brigade, commanded by the gallant 
Colonel Kelly, at the Bloody Angle, stood the 
brunt of Pickett's men, the flower of the Con- 
federate army, 18,000 strong. 

The Sixty- ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers, 
which formed part of the Irish Brigade, planted 
the Stars and Stripes at the Bloody Angle, and 
side by side waved the Sunburst on the spot 
which is now marked by the beautiful monument 
of the Sixty-ninth, on which are sculptured the 
nation's banner and the flag of Erin. They held 
their ground when all the rest were forced back 
by the terrible fire of Pickett's men, proudly and 



THE IRISH IN THK CIVIL WAR 1 3 

defiantly waving the starry banner, until relief 
came, until Hancock poured his whole force on 
the enemy, when like an avalanche the Confed- 
erates were swept from the field, leaving thou- 
sands of the bravest of the brave cold in death. 
The monument of the Sixth-ninth Pennsylvania 
Volunteers holds the place of honor on the field 
of Gettysburg. 

The One hundred and sixteenth Pennsylvania 
Volunteers also carried the Irish flag. It was 
commanded by Gen. St. Clair Mulholland, and 
covered itself with laurels on the battlefield. 
They still grace the brow of their General, who 
now lives in Philadelphia, where, universally 
esteemed and beloved, he has in his keeping the 
interest and welfare of the widows and orphans 
of the brave men he loved so well. 

The Ninety-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers was 
organized at Pottstown, almost all Irish. The 
late Captain Cusack, of Philadelphia, was captain 
in that regiment. He was a gentleman who will 
long be remembered as the soul of patriotism and 
honor ; and side by side another gallant son of 
the Emerald Isle, Captain Doyle, late of Phila- 
delphia, than whom a braver man never drew 
breath. 



THE IRISH IN THE CIVII, WAR 



The pages of American history will ever glow 
with the heroic bravery of the Cushings. Lieu- 
tenant Cushing, on the field of Gettysburg, shot 
in the abdomen, one hand on the wound, holding 
the protruding bowels, and the other pointing to 
the gun, saying: "Give them one more shot, 
boys. ' ' 

What more thrilling than John Meagher's 
last words — "Boys, save the colors, for I die." 

In the deep graves which shadow the silent 
fields of Bull Run lay many an Irish heart cold 
in death, one among them, Col. James Haggert)^ 
of the Sixty-ninth New York Volunteers, promi- 
nent among all others by his iron frame and 
boldly chiseled features, wrapped in his martial 
cloak, his sword crossed on his breast, with brow 
uplifted, bearing the impress of command and 
stern consciousness of duty to the last. Brin, the 
land of .heroes, never produced a braver soldier. 
His name is carved in letters of gold on the colors 
and hearts of the glorious Sixty-ninth. 

At Fredericksburg's stone wall the red tide of 
life rushed like billows of ocean. There, under 
"Meagher of the sword," the Irish brigade 
again and again rode up to the very muzzles of 
the Southern cannon. What a scene of carnage L 



BIVOUAC OF THE DKAD 



What daring deeds of bravery in defense of 
Liberty's cup ! The crimson streaks of Malvern 
Hill are still gory with the tide of life that 
gushed forth to quench the fires of secession. 
On Atlanta's historic plain their silent tents are 
spread, in the words of that inimitable poem, 
written by O'Hara, another son of Erin, a poem 
that will live in the hearts of all liberty-loving 
people while mountains rear their summits to 
the sky or rivers journey onward to the sea. 



THE BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD 

First and finest of the Decoration Day poems 
is Theodore O'Hara's " Bivouac of the Dead." 
It has been read in connection with memorial 
services thousands of times, and it bids fair to 
last as long as the memory of the great war 
itself. It is as follows : 

The muffled drum's sad roll has beat 

The soldier's last tattoo; 
No more on life's parade shall meet 

That brave and fallen few. 
On Fame's eternal camping ground 

Their silent tents are spread ; 
And glory guards with solemn round 

The bivouac of the dead. 



BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD 



No rumor of the foe's advance 

Now swells upon the wind ; 
No troubled thought at midnight haunts 

Of loved ones left behind ; 
No vision of the morrow's strife 

The warrior's dream alarms ; 
No braying horn or screaming fife 

At dawn shall call to arms. 

Their shivered swords are red with rust, 

Their plumed heads are bowed ; 
Their haughty banner, trailed in dust, 

Is now their martial shroud ; 
And plenteous funeral tears have washed 

The red stains from each brow ; 
And the proud forms, by battle gashed, 

Are free from anguish now. 

The neighing troop, the flashing blade, 

The bugle's stirring blast ; 
The charge, the dreadful cannonade, 

The din and shout are passed. 
Nor war's wild note, nor glory's peal 

Shall thrill with fierce delight 
Those breasts that nevermore may feel 

The rapture of the fight. 

Like the fierce Northern hurricane 
That sweeps his great plateau, 

Flushed with the triumph yet to gain, 
Comes down the serried foe. 



BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD 

Who heard the thunder of the fray 
Break o'er the field beneath 

Knew well the watchword of that day 
Was, Victory or death. 

Full many a Norther's breath has swept 

O'er Angostura's plain, 
And long the pitying sky has wept 

Above its mouldered slain. 
The raven's scream or eagle's flight, 

Or shepherd's pensive lay. 
Alone awake each solemn height 

That frowned o'er that dread fray. 

Thus 'neath their parent turf they rest, 

Far from the gory field, 
Bone to a Spartan's mother's breast 

On many a bloody shield. 
The sunshine of their native sky 

Smiles sadly on them here, 
And kindred eyes and hearts watch by 

The hero's sepulcher. 

Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead ! 

Dear as the blood ye gave, 
No impious footstep here shall tread 

The herbage of your grave ; 
Nor shall your glory be forgot 

While Fame her record keeps, 
Or honor points the hallowed spot 

Where valor proudly sleeps. 



1 8 THE IRISH IN THE CIVIL WAR 

Yon marble minstrel's voiceless stone 

In deathless song shall tell 
When many a vanished year hath flown 

The story how ye fell ; 
Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter's blight, 

Nor Time's remorseless doom 3 
Can dim one ray of holy light 

That gilds your glorious tomb. 

I point with pride to such men as Gen. M. 
Kerwin, "Fighting Mike," and Gen. James R. 
O'Beirne, who, having made a gallant record by 
the sword, afterward, by their pen, leavened the 
mass of sinew and bone of their countrymen to 
to the material prosperity of the Republic. 

Gen. James Shields and Gen. Phil Kearny, the 
heroes of the Mexican War, as well as of the late 
war, were Irish. Shields was the first Union 
officer that defeated Stonewall Jackson. Kearny 
distinguished himself at Contreras and Cheru- 
busco and was killed at Chantilly. The 4th of 
October, 1862, will never be forgotten by the Fifth 
Minnesota Volunteers, for on that day, one of the 
most desperate and blood}^ battles of the far 
West was fought between the Union forces 
under the gallant Rosecrans, and the Confederates 
under Price and Van Dorn, at Corinth. On 



THK IRISH IN THE CIVIL WAR 



19 



the right of the Union forces the situation was 
critical. The enemy had succeeded in pene- 
trating our lines and captured some of our 
batteries, and were pouring into the streets. 
The Union forces were giving way. The cry for 
ammunition was yelled along the line, but the 
supply was exhausted, when lo! in the distance 
appeared a man carrying a barrel of cartridges on 
his shoulder, yelling at the top of his voice, — 
"Here boys, here are the cartridges." He 
repeated his visits, carrying the barrels of 
cartridges, until line after line was supplied, 
though the leaden hail fell all around him and 
thinned the ranks with death and destruction. 
It is doubtful whether a similar deed of bravery 
is recorded of either army during the war. Who 
was the wonderful non-combatant? None other 
than Father Ireland, now Archbishop Ireland, of 
Minnesota. General Hubbard, in his report of 
the battle, states: "The situation was critical. 
Unless the enemy was turned back and the gap 
closed, Rosecran's lines would be taken in the 
rear and the consequences calamitous." With 
the supply of cartridges the Fifth Minnesota 
closed the gap. "It was like the whirlwind 
against the flank of the penetrating foe. The 



20 (( AMERICA, I AM THY CHILD !" 



enemy recoiled under the shock. ' ' Stunned by 
the terrible volleys of the Fifth Minnesota, the 
confused mass staggered, halted, and fell back, 
closely pressed by the gallant Fifth. The lost 
batteries were retaken and the line re-established. 



"AMERICA, I AM THY CHILD!" 

[Exclamation of Archbishop Ireland] 

I've seen the old world, its mansions, its mountains ; 
Its rivers and lakes, its valleys and fountains ; 
Its lands of the rose, thistle, olive and vine ; 
Its lands on the Tiber, the Tagus, and Rhine ; 
But lands more delightful I never have seen 
Than those of the orange, the lily, and green. 

I've seen her grandees and sat in their halls ; 
With nobles and ladies, danced at their balls ; 
Seen her castles, her soldiers, her ships, her cannon, 
On the banks of the Rhine, the Seine, and the Shannon; 
But a scene more delightful I never did see 
Than my own sweet home by the waves of the sea, 
In the land of the brave and home of the free. 

I have heard on the Seine the war bugles sounding, 
And the Marseillaise ringing from bower and vine ; 
While, lo ! in the distance, in strains the most thrilling } 
Peals forth, that grand solemn anthem, "Die Watch 
am Rhine." 



THE IRISH FLAG 



21 



On the Thames and the Shannon, the Kelt and the 
Saxon 

Re-echo in thunders the magic combine ; 
The sons of Italia and olive-hilled Spainia, 
Swelling the numbers and completing the line. 

Stars more magnificent I never did view ; 

And none more brilliant, more powerful, more true, 

But the stars of Old Glory, the Red, White and Blue. 

The Ninth Massachusetts Volunteers, all Irish, 
covered McClellan's retreat at Gaines' Mill, 
June 27, 1862. 

' ' Whose banner of Green was foremost still, 
With forty battles its flag was red ; 
Reddest of all at Gaines' Mill, 
Where the Irish Ninth in rows lay dead." 



THE IRISH FLAG IN THE WAR 

The Irish flag was borne side by side with Old 
Glory in the war by the Ninth Massachusetts, 
the Thirty-fifth Indiana Volunteers, Twenty- 
third Illinois Volunteers, the Tenth Ohio Volun- 
teers, One-hundred and sixteenth Pennsylvania 
Volunteers, Sixty-ninth Pennsylvania Volun- 
teers, Thirty-seventh New York Volunteers, 
Sixty-third New York Volunteers, Sixty-ninth 



22 LINCOLN AND THE IRISH 

New York Volunteers, Eighty- eighth New York 
Volunteers, the Twenty-eight Massachusetts 
Volunteers, (Fag a Baile) and many other regi- 
ments. 

When France was on the point of acknow- 
ledging the Confederacy, whom did Lincoln, the 
great and good, select for the most important 
mission to the French capital? He selected 
John Hughes, Archbishop of New York City, 
an Irishman. It goes without saying that the 
Confederacy was not acknowledged. The good 
Lincoln selected another Irishman, the Rev. 
Father Boyle, of Washington, to administer to 
the dying and wounded soldiers in the vicinity 
of the Capitol. He sleeps in Mt. Olivet Ceme- 
tery, lamented by all his fellow citizens, 
irrespective of creed or color. 

" He sleeps where gentle zephyrs 
Sing" soft dirges o'er his slumbers, 
And kindred love with flowers each spring 
His resting place encumbers." 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



23 



SKETCHES OF FAMOUS AMERICANS 
OF IRISH BLOOD 

Ireland's sons grace every walk and sphere of 
life. As orators, soldiers and statesmen they 
have no superiors. They form a galaxy of stars 
of superior brilliancy, eminent in all profesions. 

Cleveland Abbe, jr., is the son of Cleveland 
Abbe and Frances Martha Neal, a lineal de- 
scendant of Hugh O'Neal, of Ulster, Ireland. 
His father, an eminent meteorologist, might be 
considered the father of the weather service. 

Robert Adrian, born in Carrickfergus, Ireland, 
patriot in the Revolution, was vice-provost of the 
University of Pennsylvania and a famous mathe- 
matician. 

Dr. Cornelius Rea Agnew, one of the founders 
of the Union League of New York, was of Irish 
origin. He founded the Brooklyn Eye and Bar 
Hospital, and helped to organize the United 
States Sanitary Commission in 1864. 

It was Judge Daniel Agnew, whose grandfather 
came from the County Antrim, and fought in the 



24 



THE BURIAL OF MOSES 



Revolution, that was selected to deliver the ad- 
dress of welcome to General Grant, from the citi- 
zens of Pittsburg, after his return from his trip 
around the world. 

Dr. David Hayes Agnew, whose family came 
from Ireland, was the founder of the School of 
Operative Surge^. He was the chief surgeon 
at the deathbed of President Garfield. 

Archibald Alexander, of Irish ancestry, was 
the fourth president of Hampden-Sidney College. 
It is to Mrs. Cecil F. Alexander, the wife of the 
Bishop of Londonderry, Ireland, that the world 
is indebted for that exquisite poem, "The Burial 
of Moses." 



THE BURIAL OF MOSES 

By Nebo's lonely mountain, 

On this side of Jordan's wave, 

In a vale in the land of Moab, 

There lies a lonely grave ; 

And no man dug the sepulcher, 

And no man saw it e'er, 

For the angels of God upturned the sod 

And laid the dead man there. 

That was the grandest funeral 
That ever passed on earth ; 



THE BURIAL OF MOSES 



But no man heard the tramping 

Or saw the train go forth. 

Noiselessly, as the daylight 

Comes, when the night is done, 

And the crimson streak on ocean's cheek 

Grows into the great sun ; 

Noiselessly, as the springtime, 

Her crown of verdure weaves, 

And all the trees on the hills 

Open their thousand leaves ; 

So, without sound of music 

Or the voice of them that wept, 

Silently, down from the mountain's crown,. 

The great procession swept. 

Perchance the bald old eagle, 

On grey Beth-peor's height, 

Out from his rocky eyrie 

Looked on the wondrous sight ; 

Perchance the lion, stalking, 

Still shuns that hallowed spot, 

Where beast and bird have seen and heard 

That which man knoweth not. 

But when the warrior dieth 

His comrades in the war, 

With arms reversed and muffled drum, 

Follow the funeral car. 

They show the banners taken , 

They tell his battle won, 

And after him lead his masterless steed. 

While peals the minute gun. 



26 



THE BURIAL OF MOSES 



Amid the nobles of the land 

Men lay the sage to rest, 

And give the bard an honored place, 

With costly marble drest, 

In the great minstrel transept, 

Where lights like glory fall, 

And the choir sings and the organ rings 

Along the emblazoned wall. 

This was the bravest warrior 

That ever buckled sword ; 

This, the most gifted poet 

That ever breathed a word ; 

And never earth's philosopher 

Traced with his golden pen, 

On the deathless page, truth half so sage 

As he wrote down for men. 

And had he not great honor ? 

The hillside for his pall, 

To lie in state while angels wait. 

With stars for tapers tall, 

And the dark-rock pines, like tossing plumes, 

O'er his bier to wave, 

And God's own hand, i^--that lonely land, 

To lay him in the grave ! 

O, lonely tomb in Moab's land ! 

O, dark Beth-peor hill ! 

Speak to these curious hearts of ours 

And teach them to be still. 

God hath his mysteries of grace — 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



2 7 



Ways that we can not tell — 

He hides them deep like the secret sleep 

Of him he loved so well. 

Dr. Francis Allison, born in the County Done- 
gal, Ireland, pastor of the First Presbyterian 
Church in Philadelphia, Pa. , was the first Greek 
and Latin scholar in the colonies. 

Chester Allan Arthur, the twenty-first Presi- 
dent of the United States, was the son of Rev. 
William Arthur, who was born in Belfast, Ire- 
land. 

Mathew Baird, the proprietor of the Baldwin 
Locomotive Works, of Philadelphia, was born in 
Londonderry, Ireland. 

It was Col. John Barnwell ("Tuscarora John") 
who crushed the Tuscarora Indians after their 
massacre of the whites in the Carolinas in 1712. 
His father was Baron Trimleston, of Ireland. 

Col. James Barrett, a Connaught man, whipped 
General Pitcairn's red coats on the road to Con- 
cord to the tune of the " White Cockade." 

Lawrence Barrett (Larry Branigan) , the son of 
an Irishman, was in the front line of actors in his 
performance of ' ' Cassius. ' ' 

Patrick Barry, pomologist, born in Ireland, 



28 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



was joint owner with George Ellwanger of the 
most extensive nurseries in the United States. 

William T. Barry, the first Postmaster- General 
of the United States, was of Irish blood. 

Benjamin Smith Barton, of Irish ancestry, was 
professor of materia medica in the Pennsylvania 
University, and won the Harveian prize at Edin- 
burgh. The plant, "Bartonia," was named in 
his honor. 

Hillary Bell, dramatic critic and artist, was, 
without exception, the most fascinating writer 
in theatrical circles. His picture of Ada Rehan, 
in the "Taming of the Shrew," was presented 
to the Shakespeare Memorial, Stratford-on-Avon. 
He was born in Belfast, Ireland. 

John Bell, the tenth governor of New Hamp- 
shire, was born in Londonderry, Ireland. His 
brother Samuel was also governor of the State, 
and Charles Henry Bell, the son of Samuel, rilled 
the governor's chair. 

Peter Hansbrough Bell, of Irish ancestry, was 
governor of Texas. 

James Gordon Bennett, sr. , the founder of the 
New York Herald, was born of Catholic parents. 
His mother was a native of the city of Dublin, 
Ireland. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



2 9 



Jeremiah Sullivan Black, Attorney- General 
under President Buchanan, and Supreme Justice 
of the State of Pennsylvania, was the grandson 
of James Black, a native of Ireland. 

James Gillespie Blaine, Secretary of State, and 
candidate for the Presidency, was of Irish blood. 
He was probably the greatest statesmen that 
America ever produced. 

Lillie Blake (Devereux), authoress, was presi- 
dent of the New York Woman Suffrage League, 
and the founder of the Society for Political Study. 
She was the first to influence legislation in pen- 
sioning nurses in the civil war. Her progenitor 
settled in Ireland, in the time of Queen Elizabeth. 

Robert Bonner, the proprietor of the New 
York Ledger, and the patron of breeding swift 
horses, was born near Londonderry, Ireland. 

Dionysius Lardner Boucicault, actor, born in 
Dublin, Ireland, was the first to inaugurate the 
higher type of Irish drama in the United States. 

Paul Boyton, the nautical traveler and of 
matchless feats in the water, was born in Ire- 
land. 

James T. Brady, of Irish blood, was one of the 
most brilliant members of the New York bar. 



30 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



He was counsel in the celebrated Daniel Sickles 
case for the murder of Philip Barton Key. 

Gen. Lawrence O' Bryan Branch, of the Con- 
federate army, who fell mortally wounded at 
Antietam while leading his men in a charge, was 
the son of Susan O'B^an, and was named for 
his uncle, Lawrence Giraldes O' Bryan. 

Gen. Joseph Cabell Breckinridge, inspector- 
general of the United States Army, a soldier of 
the civil and Spanish- American wars, whose 
son, Joseph C. Breckinridge, United States Navy, 
was killed while bearing dispatches to the Maine, 
is a descendant of John Breckinridge of Cabell's 
Dale, Kentucky, a native of Ireland. 

John Brougham, born in Dublin, Ireland, had 
no superior in the role of Micawber, in ' 1 David 
Copperfield." 

Alexander Brown, born in Ballymena, Ireland, 
was the founder of the great banking houses in 
Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and in 
Europe, which bore the name of Alexander 
Brown & Sons. 

Andrew Brown, a major in the patriot army, 
born in Ireland, published the Philadelphia Ga- 
zette, the first paper in which were printed the 
debates of Congress. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 3 1 

Rev. John Brown, who fought under General 
Sumter, was president of the University of Geor- 
gia. He was born in the County Antrim, Ireland. 

William Jennings Bryan, Congressman, soldier, 
and the leader of the Democrats as candidate for 
the Presidency, who fought in the American- 
Spanish war, and who is one of America's most 
distinguished statesmen and orators, is of Irish 
ancestry. 

The father of James Buchanan, the fifteenth 
President of the United States, was born in the 
County Donegal, Ireland. 

Margaret Buchanan (Mrs. M. F. Sullivan) 
born in the County Tyrone, Ireland, was selected 
as special correspondent of the Associated Press 
at the Paris Exposition in 1889. 

John Burns, born in Dublin Ireland, was the 
first governor of Pennsylvania after the adoption 
of the Constitution. 

Gen. Ambrose Everett Burnside's mother was 
Pamelia Brown, the daughter of John Brown, an 
Irishman. He was in command of the Army of 
the Potomac in the civil war. 

G&i£U?s lor 

Matthew C. Butler,^ born in Ireland, was a 
major-general in the Confederate army and a 
Senator of the United States. 



32 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



Thomas Butler, born in the County Wicklow, 
Ireland, was the founder of the first Episcopal 
Church (St. John's) in America, at Carlisle, Pa. 
He was the father of the five Butler brothers, so 
famous in the Revolution. 

Rev. James Caldwell, the "Fighting Parson" 
of the Revolution, was of Irish lineage. At the 
battle of Springfield, N. J., he supplied the 
soldiers with hymn books with wadding from a 
neighboring church, saying, ' ' Now put Watts in 
them, boys." 

John Caldwell Calhoun, the son of Patrick 
Calhoun, of the County Donegal, was one of the 
most distinguished statesmen of the American 
Republic. 

Cecil Calvert, the "Absolute lord of Mary- 
land and Avalon," was born in Ireland. 

Thomas Campbell and his son, Alexander 
Campbell, born in the Country Antrim, Ireland, 
were the founders of the religious society of 
" Campbellites," or the "Disciples of Christ," 
"in the United States. 

The first regiment to encamp on the soil of 
Virginia, in the civil war, the Twelfth New York 
Volunteers, was commanded by Gen. Joseph B. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



33 



Carr, the son of Irish parents. He was in com- 
mand at Chancellorsville after General Berry 
fell. His horse was killed under him at Gettys- 
burg. 

Gen. Thomas Lincoln Casey, son of Gen. 
Thomas Lincoln Casey, and the brother of Com- 
modore Silas Casey, superintended the construc- 
tion of the State, War and Navy building, the 
Congressional Library, and was engineer of the 
Washington Monument and the Washington 
Aqueduct. His progenitor came from Ulster, 
Ireland. 

Jonathan Cass, the father of Gen. Lewis Cass, 
belonged to a body of Irish emigrants who settled 
in the New England States. Jonathan broke his 
sword in two at Hull's surrender rather than 
deliver it to the British. General Cass was 
Secretary of War and Minister to France. 

Gen. Lewis Cass, whose father, Jonathan Cass, 
belonged to a body of Irish emigrants that settled 
in the New England States, was Secretary of War 
under General Jackson, and was candidate for the 
Presidency. He was the first to maintain the 
principle of "Squatter's Sovereignty." 

Capt. John Cassin, United States Navy, whose 



34 



' ' THE FIGHTING RACK ' ' 



father was Irish, was in command on the Dela- 
ware River to protect Philadelphia in the war of 
1 812. His son, Stephen, was with McDonough, 
in command of the Ticonderoga, on Lake Cham- 
plain when that officer whipped the British fleet. 

Dr. William Cathcart, president of the Ameri- 
can Baptist Historical Society, and the author of 
"The Baptist and the American Revolution," 
was born in Londonderry, Ireland. 

Captain Cavanagh planted the flag on the hill 
top of San Juan, and the sight of Old Glory 
thrilled the men. 

Zachariah Chandler, of Irish descent, Secretary 
of the Interior under General Grant, conducted 
the most memorable Presidential campaign in the 
annals of the country, which resulted in the elec- 
tion to the Presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes, in 
1876. 

Joseph I. C. Clarke, author, journalist, and 
poet, who wrote the ' ' New York Ode ' ' for the 
World's Fair of Chicago, in 1893, and "The 
Fighting Race," was born in the County Dublin,. 
Ireland. 



' ' THK FIGHTING RACK ' ' 



35 



"THE FIGHTING RACE" 

l< Read out the names ! " and Burke set back, 

And Kelly dropped his head, 
While Shea — they call him " Scholar Jack "— 

Went down the list of the dead — 
Officers, seamen, gunners, marines, 

The crews of the gig and yawl, 
The bearded man and the lad in his teens, 

Carpenters, coal passers — all. 
Then knocking- the ashes out his pipe, 

Said Burke, in an off-hand way, 
" We're all in that dead man's list, be cripe ! 

Kelly and Burke and Shea." 
Well, here's to the Maine, and — I'm sorry for Spain," 

Said Kelly and Burke and Shea. 

"Wherever there's Kellys there's trouble," said 
Burke ; 

"Wherever fighting's the game, 
Or a spice of danger in grown men's work," 

Said Kelly, "you'll find my name." 
"And do we fall short," said Burke, getting mad, 

"When it's touch and go for life ? " 
Said Shea, "It's thirty-odd years, bedad, 

Since I charged to drum and fife 
Up Marye's Heights ; and my old canteen 

Stopped a rebel ball on its way. 
There were blossoms of blood on our sprigs of green — 

Kelly and Burke and Shea — 
And the dead didn't brag. " Well, here's to the flag! " 

Said Kelly and Burke and Shea. 



36 ' ' THE FIGHTING RACK ' ' 

"I wish 'twas in Ireland — for there's the place," 

Said Burke, " that we'd die by right — 
In the cradle of our soldier race, 

After one good stand-up fight. 
My grandfather fell on Vinegar Hill, 

And fighting was not his trade ; 
But his rusty pike's in the cabin still, 

With Hessian blood on the blade." 
"Aye, aye," said Kelly, "the pikes were great 

When the word was clear the way ! 
We were thick on the roll in Ninety-eight — 

Kelly and Burke and Shea." 
" Well, here's to the pike and the sword and the like! " 

Said Kelly and Burke and Shea. 

And Shea, the scholar, with rising joy, 
Said : "We were at Ramillies ; 

We left our bones at Fontenoy, and up in the Pyrenees ; 
Before Dunkirk, on Landon's plain, 

Cremona, Lillie, and Ghent ; 

We're all over Austria, Prance, and Spain, 

Wherever they pitched a tent ; 
We've died for England, from Waterloo to Egypt 
and Dargai ; 

And still there's enough for a corps or crew- 
Kelly and Burke and Shea." 

" Oh, the fighting races don't die out, 

If they seldom die in bed. 
For love is first in their hearts no doubt," 

Said Burke. Then Kelly said : 
"When Michael, the Irish Archangel, stands — 

The angel with the sword — 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



37 



And the battle-dead from a hundred lands 
Are ranged in one big horde, 

Our line, that for Gabriel's trumpet waits, 
Will stretch three deep that day, 

Prom Jehosaphat to the Golden Gates- 
Kelly and Burke and Shea." 

"Well, here's thank God for the race and the sod ! " 
Said Kelly and Burke and Shea. 



Gen. Patrick Cleburne, the Confederate; hero 
of Franklin, the " Stonewall of the West," and 
the founder of the Order of the Southern Cross, 
was born in Cork, Ireland. 

"Lady of the White House," Rose Elizabeth 
Cleveland, daughter of Anna Neal, is the sister 
of Grover Cleveland. Her mother was the 
daughter of a native of Ireland. 

Grover Cleveland the twenty-second President 
of the United States, is the son of Anna Neal, 
the daughter of a Baltimore merchant, who was 
born in Ireland. 

Gen. James Clinton, who fought with General 
Montgomery before the walls of Quebec, was the 
son of Col. Charles Clinton, who was born in the 
County L,ongford, Ireland. George Clinton, his 



38 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



brother, voted for the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, and was elected Vice-President of the 
United States. 

DeWitt Clinton, son of James, was the first 
graduate of Columbia College, and the main 
factor in the construction of the Erie Canal. 

Dr. John Cochran, whose father James, came 
from Ireland, was president of the New Jersey 
Medical Society and the director-general of the 
hospitals of the United States in 1781. His 
grandson, John Cochran, commanded a brigade 
at Antietam, and was president of the Loyal 
Legion of the State of New York. He was the 
author of the first authentic history of the organ- 
ization of the Society of the Cincinnati. 

Kathleen Blake Coleman, journalist, born in 
Ireland, was the first female war correspondent 
officially accredited. She accompanied the 
United States forces to Cuba in the Spanish- 
American war. 

Christopher Colles, engineer, born in Ireland, 
was the first to suggest the connection of the 
waters of the Atlantic with the waters of the 
Great Lakes, which was afterward carried into 
effect by DeWitt Clinton in his great achieve- 
ment, the Erie Canal. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



39 



Dr. Thomas James Conaty, bishop, born in the 
County Cavan, Ireland, was president of the 
Plattsburg Summer School, of which he was one 
of the founders. He was appointed by the Pope 
rector cf the Catholic University of America. 
He ranks as an educator in the advanced line of 
scholarship of the twentieth century. 

Capt. Thomas W. Connell, of Irish blood, fell 
heroically fighting with his command in the 
Philippines. 

Gen. Patrick Edward Connor, born in Ireland, 
soldier of the Mexican and civil wars, was the 
first that located a silver mine in Utah, and the 
first settler of Utah. He founded the city of 
Stockton and was the first publisher in Utah. 

William Wilson Corcoran, of Washington City, 
philanthopist, founder of the Corcoran Art Gal- 
lery, and the Louise Home, was a descendant of 
the Gaels of Ireland. 

The progenitor of Thomas Craighead, the first 
president of Davidson Academy and Cumberland 
College, now the University of Nashville, emi- 
grated from the County Donegal, Ireland. 

Thomas Crawford, who gave us the " Goddess 
of Liberty" on the dome of the Capitol, and the 
superb work of art, the bronze door of the 



4 o 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



House of Representatives, was born of Irish 
parents. 

John Daniel Crimmins, contractor, of New 
York City, and President- General of the Ameri- 
can-Irish Historical Society, is the son of Thomas 
Crimmins, a native of Ireland. He is president 
of several enterprises and controls about a thou- 
sand miles of street railway. 

The celebrated Davy Crockett, of Tennessee, 
was the son of an Irishman. 

Capt. William M. Crofton is the son of Colonel 
Crofton, an Irishman, who fought in the civil 
war. Captain Crofton 's company (Company E, 
First United States Infantry) , was the first Amer- 
ican troops that invaded Cuban soil in the Span- 
ish-American War. 

Jane Cunningham Croly ( ' ' Jenny June " ) , of 
Irish blood, was the first to open a new field for 
women in journalism ; was the first to originate 
the system of duplicate correspondence, and was 
the founder of the woman's club, "Sorosis," of 
New York. 

Michael Cudahy & Bros., to whom the world 
is mainly indebted for the art of preserving meat, 
are all Irish. Michael is a trustee of the Cath- 
olic University of America and the president of 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



4 I 



the North American Transportation Company. 
The Cudahy packing establishment occupies 
ninety acres of land. It has branches in several 
cities. 

Andrew G. Curtin, the ''war governor" of 
Pennsylvania, was the son of Roland Curtin, 
born in Ireland. He founded the first home for 
soldiers' orphans in the United States. 

Jeremiah Curtin, the "war governor's" 
nephew, is the translator of "Quo Vadis," 
from the Polish, by Henryk Sienkiewicz, and 
the author of many other works. He is a mem- 
ber of the American-Irish Historical Society. 

Dr. William Hudson Daily, major and chief 
surgeon in the Spanish-American war, was the 
son of Thomas Daily, a native of Ireland. His 
report on the ' ' embalmed beef ' ' caused the sen- 
sation of the war. 

Augustin Daly, the actor, was of Irish ances- 
try. It is to his ability in the histrionic art that 
Ada Rehan, John Drew, and many others owe 
their brilliant career on the stage. 

Judge Charles Patrick Daly, the distinguished 
New York jurist, and the president of the Amer- 
ican Geographical Society, was the son of an 
Irish carpenter from the County Galway. 



42 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



John Charles Davis, banker, organized the first 
national bank at Rawlings, Wyo., in 1891. He 
was born in Ireland. 

Richard Harding Davis, whose progenitors 
came from the south of Ireland, is the author of 
the article, "The Rocking- Chair Period of the 
War, ' ' a description of the army at Tampa, Fla. > 
preparatory to the invasion of Cuba in 1898. 

Gen. James Dearing, the Confederate com- 
mander, who fell mortally wounded in leading a 
charge at High Bridge, near Farmville, in a 
hand-to-hand struggle with Colonel Washburn, 
was descended on the maternal side from Colonel 
Lynch, of the Revolution, who came from the 
County Gal way, Ireland. 

Patrick Bernard Delany, electrician, perfected 
a system by which 3,000 words can be transmitted 
per minute over a single telegraphic wire. He 
was born in Kings County, Ireland. 

Mary Ainge De Vere ( ' ' Madeline S. Bridges 
the nightingale of nature, is the daughter of 
natives of the County Donegal, Ireland. 

John Fenwick Dickson, born in Newry, County 
Derry, Ireland, owns the largest iron mill in the 
State of Texas. It manufactures about 50,000 
wheels each year. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



43 



The Dinsmoors of Ireland founded the town of 
Windham, N. H. Samuel Dinsmoor and his son 
were governors of the State. 

John Dixey, sculptor, born in Dublin, Ireland, 
was vice-president of the Academy of Fine Arts. 
He left mementos of his art in the figures of 
"Justice," on the city hall, New York City, and 
in the State House at Albany, N. Y. 

Archibald Alexander Doak, son of John 
Whitefield, an Irishman, was president of Wash- 
ington College, Tennessee. 

Samuel Doak, born of Irish parents, was the 
first president of Washington College, Tennessee. 

Arthur Dobbs, governor of North Carolina in 
colonial days, was born in Ireland. 

Peter Donahue, born of Irish parents, built the 
first Government vessel on the Pacific Coast, and 
was the organizer of the omnibus street car line 
in San Francisco, Cal. 

Thomas Dongan, born in the County Kildare, 
Ireland, was colonial governor of New York 
before the Revolution. 

Daniel Dougherty, the silver-tongue orator and 
lawyer, was the son of an Irishman. He was 
selected to make the speech welcoming President 
Lincoln to Philadelphia, Pa., in January, 1864. 



44 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



He received the greatest ovation ever given a 
private citizen at the Academy of Music, in Phila- 
delphia. 

Dick Dowling, the hero of Sabine Pass, who 
defeated the advance of Franklin's army of 
16,000 men, September 8, 1862, and took 400 
prisoners with 42 Irishmen, was born in Limerick, 
Ireland. The Dick Dowling Confederate 
Veteran Camp is named for him. 

John G. Downey, the seventh governor of 
California, was born in the County Roscommon, 
Ireland. 

John Drew, actor, the first Irish comedian on 
the American stage, was born in Dublin, Ireland. 
John Drew, his son, has followed in his father's 
footsteps. 

Will Allen Dromgoole is the great-grand- 
daughter of Thomas Dromgoole, who was born 
in the County Sligo, Ireland. She began her 
literary career by winning a prize of $250, offered 
by the Youth's Companion, for the best story for 
boys. 

Anthony Duane, of the County Galway, Ire- 
land, was the progenitor of Gen. James Chatham 
Duane, chief of engineers in the civil war. 

William John Duane, Secretary of the Treasury 
in 1833, was born in Clonmel, Ireland. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



45 



The Rev. Thomas James Ducey, born at Lis- 
more, Ireland, founded St. Leo's Repose for the 
Dead, in New York City. This is the first of the 
kind ever established in America. The bodies 
of the dead, irrespective of creed, race, or color, 
repose there until identified. 

John Duff, born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1787, 
was the most popular actor in the old Philadel- 
phia company, in which he was engaged as a 
stock star. 

William Wallace Duncan, whose father was 
born in the County Donegal, was professor of 
ancient languages in Randolph-Macon College 
and bishop of the Methodist Church South. 

Robert Dunlap, the greatest hat manufacturer 
in the world, is of Irish blood. 

Robert Pinkney Dunlap, the eighth governor 
of Maine, was the son of Capt. John Dunlap, who 
fought in the French and Indian wars, and the 
grandson of the Rev. Robert Dunlap, of the 
County Antrim, Ireland. 

Commodore Henry Eagle, commander of the 
Order of the Loyal Legion, made the first naval 
attack of the civil war, when he silenced the 
guns at Sewell Point, Virginia, May 19, 1861. 

Maurice Francis Egan, educator, author, and 



4 6 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



journalist, of Irish ancestry, fills the chair of lan- 
guage and literature in the Catholic University 
of America. 

General Egan, commissary- general, United 
States Army, who resented an insult in the "em- 
balmed beef" episode in connection with his 
department during the Spanish- American war, 
was born in Ireland. 

Patrick Egan, born in the County Longford, 
Ireland, was United States Minister to Chili 
under President Harrison. He was president of 
the Irish Land League in America. Through 
his cleverness the forgery of the letter, signed 
' ' Charles S. Parnell, ' ' addressed to Patrick Egan, 
was discovered; after which Piggott, the forger, 
committed suicide. This was the celebrated let- 
ter the London Times published in 1877, which 
sent a thrill of excitement throughout the world, 
purporting to have been an apology by Parnell 
for having condemned the murder of Cavendish 
and Burke in Phoenix Park, Ireland. 

Dr. John Ellis, grandson of Richard Ellis, who 
was born in Dublin, Ireland, was the first sur- 
geon on record that performed the operation of 
the ligation of both carotid arteries, in 1845. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



47 



Philip Embury, born in Ireland, built the first 
Methodist church in America, in 1768. 

Dr. John England, the ' ' Light of the American 
Hierarchy," and the first bishop of Charleston, 
S. C, was born in Cork, Ireland. 

Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, one of the most 
prominent physicians of New York, is a standard 
authority in the diseases of women. He was 
surgeon-in-chief of the Woman's Hospital of the 
State of New York, and president of the Irish 
National Federation League for nine years. He 
is the grandnephew of Robert Emmet. 

Dr. Thomas Dunn English, the author of 
" Ben Bolt," was of Irish origin. 

Thomas Ewing, Secretary of the Treasury 
under President Tyler, and Secretary of the In- 
terior under President Taylor, was of Irish blood. 

Senator James Graham Fair, of the firm of 
Flood, Mackey & O'Brien, all Irish, the "Bo- 
nanza miners" of Nevada, realized a fortune of 
$200,000,000. 

Admiral David Glasgow Farragut was the son of 
Elizabeth Shine, the daughter of John Shine, a 
native of Ireland. He was the first American 
officer that received the title of vice-admiral. 



4 8 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



Darby Field, an Irishman, was the first gov- 
ernor of New Hampshire. 

Kate Field, whose grandfather was Matthew 
Field, of Dublin, Ireland, established in Wash- 
ington Kate Field's Washington. She was deco- 
rated by the French Government with the highest 
honors ever conferred on a woman by the French 
Academy. 

John F. Finerty, born in the County Gal way, 
Ireland, a soldier of the civil war, was in the 
campaign with General Miles against Sitting 
Bull in 1879. He organized the Land League, 
that assembled in Chicago in 1881, which con- 
tributed $60,000 to the cause. He was soldier, 
journalist, and author. He still edits the Citizen, 
of Chicago. 

Private J. F. Finley, Company C, of the Cali- 
fornians, took eight car loads of ammunition to 
the Pennsylvanians in Manila and drew the cart 
himself, and delivered the ammunition after the 
cart was riddled and the horses killed. 

John Huston Finley, president of Knox Col- 
lgee, was a descendent of Rev. James Finley, of 
the County Armagh, Ireland, who was a pioneer 
preacher west of the Rocky Mountains. 

Martha Finley ( ' ' Farquharson " ) , the author 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



49 



of ' ' Elsie Dinsmore, ' ' was the descendent of 
John Finley, of the County Armagh, Ireland. 

Samuel Finley, the fifth president of Princeton 
College, was born in Ireland in 17 15. The Uni- 
versity of Glasgow conferred upon him the de- 
gree of D. D., the first honor conferred upon an 
American Presbyterian by that institution. 

Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, Confederate 
general, the grandson of Nathan Forrest, who 
married Miss Baugh, a lady of Irish descent, was 
one of the most conspicuous figures of the civil 
war. He seemed to live a charmed life. He had 
twenty-nine horses shot under him. General 
Sherman said of him : ' ' The most remarkable 
man the civil war produced on either side. He 
had a genius for strategy which was original and 
to me incomprehensible. ' ' He said at a reunion 
of his comrades that if ever it was necessary that 
his old guard would as cheerfully follow him to 
defend the Stars and Stripes as they did for the 
Confederacy. 

Abbey Kelley Foster, of Irish extraction, was 
the first woman to address mixed audiences in 
behalf of abolition and woman suffrage. 

Charles Foster, ( ' ' Calico Charlie " ) , twice 



50 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



governor of Ohio, and Secretary of the Treasury 
in 1 89 1, was of Irish blood. 

Tench Francis, an Irishman, was attorney for 
I^ord Baltimore and attorney-general for Penn- 
sylvania. His son, Tench Francis, was the first 
cashier of the Bank of North America. 

John Brown Francis, governor of Rhode Island, 
was of the same family. 

Thomas Frazer, of Michigan, born in the 
County Down, Ireland, was the originator of 
the coupon ticket. 

Gen. Frederick Funston, who captured Agui- 
naldo, is the grandson of an Irishman, born in 
the County Donegal. 

Thomas J. Gargan, born of Irish parents, 
lawyer, soldier, and orator, was president-general 
of the charitable Irish society of which Gen. 
Henry Knox, of the Revolution, was one of the 
founders, and president- general of the American- 
Irish Historical Society. 

Dr. Philip J. Garrigan, the first bishop of 
Sioux City, Iowa, was dean of the Catholic 
University of America. He was born in the 
County Cavan, Ireland. 

Edward Gay, artist, nature's painter, was born 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



51 



in Ireland. His "Washed by the Sea" is con- 
sidered the finest specimen of landscape painting 
in America. 

Cardinal James Gibbons, American patriot and 
churchman, was born of Irish parents. 

Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, musician and band- 
master-general in the civil war, was born in Ire- 
land. He organized the International Peace 
Jubilee in 1872, at which the military bands of 
all nations were present and in which an orches- 
tra of 2,000 pieces and a chorus of 20,000 voices 
took part. He celebrated the dawn of peace in 
1869, on the stage of the Boston Colosseum, by 
the greatest musical achievement the world ever 
witnessed, when an orchestra of 1,000 pieces, 
10,000 voices, and 50,000 persons joined in the 
celebration, amid the ringing of bells and the 
booming of cannon by electricity. 

Rev. Cornelius Gillespie, president of the Col- 
lege of St. Joseph, Philadelphia, Pa., formerly 
the president of the Gonzaga College, Washing- 
ton, D. C, was born near Glencolmkill, County 
Donegal, Ireland. 

Gen. George L,. Gillespie, chief of engineers, 
is of Irish extraction. The progenitors of the 



52 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



Gillespie family in America came from near 
Glencolmkill, County Donegal, Ireland. 

The late Edwin L. Godkin, born in Moyne, 
County Wicklow, was considered one of the 
greatest editors of the nineteenth century. He 
has left an idelible mark upon the social and 
economic status of the nation, which "can be 
traced unmistakably to his persistent and power- 
ful hammering upon the door of the national 
conscience. ' ' 

Arthur P. Gorman, Maryland's most distin- 
guished son and Senator, is of Irish blood. 

William A. Graham, Secretary of the Navy, 
was a son of Gen. Joseph Graham, of the Revo- 
lution, whose father, James Graham, was a na- 
tive of County Down, Ireland. 

Eliza Greatorex, born in County Leitrim, Ire- 
land, a member of the National Academy of 
Design, excelled in pen and ink sketches. 

Horace Greeley, the founder of the New York 
Tribune, and the author of the war cry, ' ' On to 
Richmond," was born of Irish parents. 

Gen. Adolphus W. Greely and his wife, Hen- 
rietta Nesmith Greely, are of Irish ancestry. 

Gen. David McM. Gregg, brigadier- general in 
the civil war, and commander of the Pennsylvania 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



53 



Order of the Loyal Legion, was of Irish blood. 
His grandfather, Andrew Gregg, was born of 
Irish parents. 

James Wilson Grimes, one of the fathers of the 
Republican organization, the third governor of 
Iowa, and Senator of the United States, was of 
Irish blood. 

Rev. John Hall, the pastor of the largest Pres- 
byterian church in the world, corner Fifth avenue 
and Fifty-fifth street, New York, which was built 
at a cost of $1,000,000, was born in the" County 
Armagh, Ireland. 

Gen. Charles Halpine (" Miles O'Reilly"), 
the war-poet of the civil war, and the author of 
lines alluding to General Grant — 

When asked what State he hails from 
Our sole reply shall be: 

He comes from Appomattox and its famous apple 
tree — 

was born in the County Meath, Ireland, and was 
the author of the lyric, " Tear Down the Flaunt- 
ing Lie." 

Gen. Wade Hampton, the dashing Confederate 
cavalry officer, was the son of the daughter of 
Christopher Fitsimons, a native of Ireland. 



54 FAMOUS AMERICANS 

William Rainey Harper, the first president of 
the University of Chicago, 111. , was the descend- 
ant of Robert Harper, a native of Ireland. 

Joseph Haslet, the seventh and eleventh gov- 
ernor of Delaware, was the son of John Haslet, 
a native of Ireland. 

Daniel Hartman Hastings, governor of Penn- 
sylvania, was of Irish descent. 

Charles Haynes Haswell, whose father was a 
native of Ireland, constructed the first steam 
launch and was the designer and constructor of 
some of the first steamships in the United States 
Navy. 

The first statue erected to commemorate the 
life of a woman in the United States was erected 
by the citizens of New Orleans in honor of an Irish 
woman, Margaret Haughery, who devoted her 
life in relieving the sufferings of humanity. 

Catharine Hayes, born in Ireland, was known 
as the ' ' Irish Nightingale. ' ' 

Rev. Jacob Henderson, born in Ireland, was 
appointed to the first Episcopal mission on the 
western shore of Maryland. 

Alexander Henry, mayor of Philadelphia, Pa., 
the grandson of Alexander Henry, a native of 
Ireland, offered the hospitality of the city of 



FAG A BAU.AGH 



55 



Philadelphia to President Lincoln on his way to 
Washington to be inaugurated. He issued a 
proclamation that no treason would be allowed 
within the city. 

Victor Herbert, musician, bandmaster, Twenty- 
second Regiment New York National Guard, 
and conductor of the Pittsburg orchestra, was 
born in Dublin, Ireland. He was the grandson 
of the famous Irish novelist, Samuel I^over. 

Matilda Agnes Heron, actress, born in London- 
derry, Ireland, was unrivalled in the role of 
Camille. 

With Hobson were John Kelly, of the Merri- 
mac, and J. C. Murphy, coxswain of the Iowa. 
There was no better fighting material on board 
the fleet. 



FAC A BALLACH 

Were all over in death and drill — 

At Bloody Lane, at San Juan hill; 

At Las Guasimas, Siboney, 

Porto Rico, and El Caney ; 

The earth is pillowed with the graves 

Of old Ireland's sons, Erin's braves. 



FAG A BAWLGH 



Were with Schley at Santiago, 
With young Bagley on the Winslow ; 
Were marines at Guantanamo, 
Were with Dewey and fighting Jack, 
Kelly, Murphy, Mike, and Mac, 
And shared with Hobson the Merrimac. 

Against old Spain their strength they hurled— 
Stars and Stripes and the Green unfurled, 
Irish blood to avenge the Maine, 
Till Irish brows, besprent like rain, 
Were mixed all in the bloody brew, 
Where swords and guns in flinters flew, 
Where cannister hot, grape and shot, 
Hissed o'er that awful bloody spot 
Where floated grand Old Glory. 

Hear you not their old slogan roar, 
Loud sounding o'er Potomac's shore, 
As onward these brave heroes bore 
The Stars and Stripes, their own galore, 
Sweeping about in bloody rout, 
With dash and crash and deafening shout, 
The Spaniard, old in story. 

See their charge on hill and valley, 
In wood and dale, Old Glory's rally ; 
Hear their war cry, "Fag a Ballagh ! " 
O'Boyle, O'Neill, McCoy, McCalla, 
The stubborn Spaniard backward bearing. 
Those nsrhting, daring sons of Erin, 
Those dashing, smashing sons of Erin. 



FAG A BALLAGH 



57 



The sun rose red o'er Siboney plain, 

Rough Riders rode o'er heaps of slain, 

And Spanish blood poured out like rain 

On Siboney so gory. 

To halt Roosevelt, Dons now tried, 

So they marched forth in Spanish pride. 

Then Roosevelt, Rough Rider, cried, 
O'Neill, Rough Rider, by his side, 
"Forward ! Charge !" To the front we ride 
Where the brave O'Neill serenely died, 
His sprigs of green in crimson dyed. 

They left their bones on Bunker Hills, 
At Stony Point, and the Antilles ; 
They fought and bled at New Orleans, 
Mexico, and the Philippines. 
'Neath Pekin's walls they rest unseen, 
Blossoms of blood their sprigs of green. 



Thomas Holme, a native of the County Wex- 
ford, Ireland, made a treaty with the Indians for 
the purchase of the lands embracing the present 
site of the city of Philadelphia. 

John Henry Hopkins, born in Dublin, Ireland, 
was the first bishop of Vermont, in 1824. He 
established the Vermont Episcopal Institute for 
training young ministers. His son, Edward 
Augustine, was the first to introduce saw mills, 



58 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



telegraphs, and railroads into the La Platte Valley, 
and was the first American consul at Asuncion, 
Paraguay, in 1853. 

Dr. Frederick Vincent Hopkins, another son, 
was the discoverer of the means of destroying the 
germs of tuberculosis. 

The first organist of a Protestant choir on the 
Pacific Coast was another son, Casper Thomas 
Hopkins. His brother, Charles Jerome Hopkins, 
musician, was the first to train children to render 
Handel's " Hallelujah Chorus" in America. 

The progenitor of Sam Houston, the first presi- 
dent of Texas and the seventh governor of Ten- 
nessee, was John Houston, a native of Ireland. 

Sam Houston, medical referee of the United 
States Pension Bureau, and the head of the 
boards of examining surgeons of that office, is of 
the same family. 

Gen. John Eager Howard, governor of Mary- 
land and hero of the Revolution, was of Irish 
blood. His grandmother, Joanna O' Carroll, was 
a native of Ireland. When Tarleton massed his 
men on Howard's right at the battle of the Cow- 
pens, Morgan ordered him to retreat in order to 
reform his front. Before he formed line he was 
charged by Tarleton, when, wheeling suddenly 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



59 



to the right about, he fired a volley in the face 
of the enemy, and then, charging with the cold 
steel, captured the British force. It was then 
that Morgan rode up, and complimenting him, 
said : ' ■ You have done well, for you are success- 
ful; had you failed I would have shot you." 
To which Howard replied : ' ' Had I failed there 
would be no need of shooting me. ' ' At Eutaw 
Springs he engaged in the hottest contest of 
the Revolution by crossing bayonets with the 
' ■ Buffs, ' ' the famous Irish corps. 

Rear- Admiral Aaron Konkle Hughes, of Wash- 
ington, D. C. , represented the blood of the ' ' Fight- 
ing Race," in the Navy for forty-five years. 

Charles Cromwell Ingham, born in Dublin, 
Ireland, was one of the founders of the National 
Academy of Design. 

Charles Inglis, born in Ireland, was the first 
Colonial bishop of the Church of England in 
America. 

Gen. William Irvine and his brothers, Dr. 
Matthew Irvine and Andrew Irvine, all Irish, 
were fighters in the Revolution. Dr. Matthew 
Irvine received seventeen wounds at the massacre 
of Paoli. 

Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the 



6o 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



United States, was the son of an Irishman, a 
native of Carrickfergus, Ireland. 

Gen. Thomas J. ("Stonewall") Jackson, the 
hero of the Confederate army, was of Irish 
blood. His father married the daughter of Mr. 
Neale. He received the sobriquet of 1 ' Stone- 
wall" from the following incident : When Gen. 
Bernard E. Bee, the Confederate general, was 
overwhelmed by the Union troops at the battle 
of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, he pointed in the 
direction of Jackson and cried out to the South 
Carolinians : ' ' Look at Jackson ; there he stands 
like a stone wall. Rally round the Virginian. ' ' 

Maj. John James, of Revolutionary fame, 
known as the "Swamp Fox" of Marion's Bri- 
gade, organized the Marion Brigade Corps. On 
one occasion he knocked down a British officer 
with a chair. He was born in Ireland. 

Joseph Jefferson, actor, is of Irish descent. He 
still holds the boards in the role of Rip Van 
Winkle, his favorite character. 

Dr. Samuel Jones, the grandson of Robert Jones, 
a native of Ireland, organized the ' ' National 
Pure Food Association, ' ' and became its president. 

Samuel Jones, grandson of Thomas Jones, a 
native of Ireland, was styled the ' 1 Father of the 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



61 



New York bar. ' ' Samuel Jones, his son, followed 
in his footsteps. 

Sir William Johnson, superintendent of Indian 
affairs in Colonial days, was born in the County 
Meath, Ireland. His name among the Indians 
was War-ragh-i-ya. He was the first white man 
that drank the waters of Saratoga Springs. 

The Irish blood of the Prestons of Virginia 
flowed in the veins of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, 
of Confederate fame. 

Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, the dashing Con- 
federate general, had also the blood of the 
' 1 Fighting Race ' ' flowing in his veins. 

Lieut. Woodbury Kane, of the Rough Riders, 
died on the battlefield with the words, ' ' Tell 
them I die like a man." His name indicates his 
ancestry. 

John Adam Kasson, United States minister to 
Austria-Hungary, and United States minister to 
Greece, was selected to deliver the address of 
welcome to Kossuth, in St. Louis. His progeni- 
tor emigrated from Ireland in 1721 and was a 
general in the Revolution. 

John M. Keating, author of "With Grant in 
the East, ' ' was of Irish ancestry. He was educated 



62 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



at Seton College, New Jersey, and traveled with 
General Grant in the East. 

William Darragh Kelley, of Philadelphia, Pa., 
the "Father of the House" of Representatives, 
was a descendent of Thomas Kelley, who emi- 
grated from Ireland and settled on the Delaware 
River in 1664. 

Gen. John Cunningham Kelton, assistant 
adjutant-general, United States Army, was of 
Irish ancestry. 

Francis Patrick Kenrick, archbishop of Balti- 
more, and his brother, Peter Richard Kenrick, 
archbishop of St. Louis, were born in Dublin, 
Ireland. 

Harriet Ann Ketcham, sculptor, of Irish ori- 
gin, has made her art famous in her great design 
for the State soldiers of Iowa, and her ' ' Peri at 
the Gate of Paradise," which the great poet, 
Moore, immortalized in his poem "Lalla 
Rookh." 

Capt. Francis K. Lacey, Jr. , First United States 
Infantry, son of Colonel Lacey, United States 
Army, participated in the first fight with his 
company on Cuban soil in the Spanish- American 
war. 

Wilton Lackaye, actor, of Washington, D. C, 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



63 



who has made a great success as Don Stephano 
in Featherbrain, and in the role of Svengali, is 
the son of an Irishman, of the city of Wash- 
ington. 

Teresa L,alor, educator, born in the County of 
Queens, Ireland, was the founder of the Convent 
of the Visitation, Georgetown, D. C, the oldest 
academy for young ladies in the thirteen original 
States. 

Harriet Lane, " L,ady of the White House," 
who received a special invitation to attend the 
coronation ceremonies of King Edward of Eng- 
land, was the granddaughter of James Buchanan, 
who emigrated from Ireland, and the niece of 
President Buchanan. 

Col. John C. Linehan, born in Macroom, County 
Cork, Ireland, commissioner of insurance of the 
State of New Hampshire, and treasurer- general 
of the American-Irish Historical Society, of 
which society he was one of the founders, was 
junior vice-commander-in-chief of the Grand 
Army of the Republic. He was one of the mem- 
bers of the Grand Army of the Republic selected 
to report upon the workings of the United States 
Pension Bureau under the administration of Com- 
missioner H. Clay Evans. 



64 SENTINELS OF OUR HEROIC DEAD 

Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, president of the 
Thomas J. Lipton Company, pork packers, of 
Chicago, 111., was born of Irish parents. He is 
all Irish. He has been the champion yachtman 
in the international contests to capture the 
American trophy. He has built Shamrock after 
Shamrock for that purpose. His Shamrock III 
was launched on St. Patrick's Day, at Glasgow, 
Scotland, in 1903. 

William Lochren, soldier, jurist, and Commis- 
sioner of Pensions under President Cleveland, 
was born in the County Tyrone, Ireland. He 
enlisted as a private in the civil war and rose to the 
rank of first lieutenant. 



SENTINELS OF OUR HEROIC DEAD 

A MEMORIAL TOAST. 

{Dedicated to the comrades in arms of the United States Pension 
Bureau.) 

I. 

I stood upon the threshold of the nation's glorious 
dead — 

The threshold that had trembled 'neath their bivouac 

and their tread ; 
I saw the sentinels, ever, at their bureau overhead, 
Guarding- the scroll of honor, inscribed o'er their 

windowless bed.' 



SENTINELS OF OUR HEROIC DEAD 65 



II. 

A blessing on you, bold sentinels, wherever you may 
be, 

Sir Knights of tried loyalty, integrity, and honesty ; 
May you there be long and loud, as the susurrus of the 
sea, 

Sentinels of our heroic dead, the guardians of our 
country — 

Guardians of her liberty, her honor, and her chivalry; 
Who fought, bled, and died for unity and humanity, 
And left the world the Stars and Stripes, a priceless 
heredity — 

The Stars and Stripes, glorious symbol of the world's 
liberty. 

in. 

Long may she wave, Old Glory ! and bright her blaze, 
this century, 

A shining star, to cheer our way, of all rights a guar- 
antee. 

The stars will set, the moon will wane, the sun lose his 
brilliancy 

Ere Old Glory's fame shall cease to flame the world's 
lamp of liberty. 

Cornelius Logan, born of Irish parents, was 
the author of the poem, " The Mississippi." He 
was the father of Eliza, Cecilia, and Olive Logan, 
actresses. 

James Logan, born in Ireland, William Penn's 
secretary, was one of the founders of the Penn- 
sylvania University. 



66 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



Gen. John A. Logan, of civil war fame, was 
the son of an Irish physician. He was the first 
Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. 
He was soldier, statesman, orator, and scholar, 
and the first that suggested Decoration Day. 
His son, Major John A. Logan, Jr., served in the 
Spanish- American War, and is the author of 
' ( Joyful Russia. ' ' 

General Lomax, the Confederate, who fell at 
Seven Pines, was a descendant of William Ten- 
nant, the Irish Presbyterian minister, who 
founded the ' ' Log Cabin ' ' College. He captured 
the navy yard and forts at Pensacola; was captain 
of the Montgomery True Blues, and the first 
white man that ascended the volcano of Orizaba. 

Gen. Matthew Lyon, who founded the town 
of Fair Haven, Conn. , an officer in the " Green 
Mountain Boys, ' ' and Commissary- General in the 
Revolution, was born in County Wicklow, 
Ireland. It was from his printing materials 
that the first paper in Kentucky was printed. 

William McAdoo, born in Ireland, was Assis- 
tant Secretary of the Navy under President 
Cleveland. He was elected President- General of 
the American-Irish Historical Society. 

Charles T. McClenachan, merchant, born in 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



6/ 



Ireland, was a member of the Hibernian Fire 
Company, of Philadelphia, and of the Hibernian 
Society. He became a member of the Pennsyl- 
vania Legislature, and was elected to the National 
House of Representatives. He subscribed $50,000 
in aid of the patriot cause. He died in 181 2. 

The parents of Cardinal John McCloskey 
were natives of Derry, Ireland. He was the first 
American Cardinal. 

George McCook, of Ireland, was the father of 
Dan and John McCook, whose descendants were 
the "Fighting McCooks" of the civil war, distin- 
guished as "The Tribe of Dan" and "The 
Tribe of John." 

The McCormick brothers, the celebrated in- 
ventors of agricultural implements, were of Irish 
blood. Robert McCormick, born in 1780, con- 
structed a grain cutter in 1809, the first machine 
of the kind ever made. 

John McCullough, tragedian, was born in 
Coleraine, Ireland. He was unrivalled in the 
role of Virginius. Forrest, the tragedian, con- 
sidered him his successor, and left him his manu- 
scripts at his death. 

John McDonough, of Baltimore, whose father, 
of Irish blood, fought in the Revolution, was 



68 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



the founder of the McDonough School, in Balti- 
timore, Md. He lived in New Orleans in princely 
luxury, but suddenly forsook all gaiety and 
worldly pleasures and devoted his life and wealth 
to the education of the poor. 

Dr. Kphraim McDowell, of Irish lineage, who 
operated on President Polk, was the " Father of 
Ovariotomy. ' ' He performed the first operation 
in ovariotomy. 

Gen. Irvin McDowell, whose progenitor came 
from Ireland, after the siege of Londonderry, 
was a soldier of the Mexican and civil wars. He 
was in command of the Army of the Potomac 
and the defenses of Washington City. 

When Captain^McFarland fell, heroically lead- 
ing his men in a charge in the Spanish- American 
war, Lieutenant Carey rushed to the head of the 
wavering column, saying "Come on, Company 
B, Sixteenth Infantry," and in a few moments 
he was killed. The blood of the "Fighting 
Race ' ' flowed in their veins. 

Rev. Dr. William F. McGinnis, of Brooklyn, 
N. Y., was the founder of the International 
Catholic Truth Society. His name indicates his 
ancestry. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



6 9 



Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire, whose progen- 
itor, Edward McGuire, of County Kerry, Ireland, 
was the first to organize an ambulance corps. 
He was medical director to ' 'Stonewall" Jackson. 

James McHenry, Secretary of War in 1796, 
was of Irish blood. Fort McHenry, at Baltimore, 
Md., was named for him. 

The first to introduce American butter and 
cheese in England was James McHenry, the son 
of Dr. James McHenry, a native of Ireland, and 
United States consul to Londonderry, Ireland. 

Mary McHenry, daughter of James McHenry, 
the consul to Londonderry, is the president of 
the lady visitors of the Soldiers' Home, in Phila- 
delphia, Pa. She was one of the thirteen women 
that represented the thirteen original States at 
the Centennial celebration of 1876. 

Private Mclllrath, of Battery H, Third Artil- 
lery, jumped on the parapet in the Philippines, 
and walked up and down to steady the men — 
glorious deed ! 

Judge Joseph McKenna, whose father was 
a native of Ireland, was Attorney- General of the 
United States. He was made Associate Justice of 
the Supreme Court of the United States in 1897. 



jo 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



The great and good William McKinley, twenty- 
fifth President of the United States, was the 
great-great-grandson of David McKinley, who 
emigrated from County Antrim. The hamlet of 
Dervock, in County Antrim, where the ancestor 
of President McKinley was born, is still visited 
by thousands in the season, says the Edinburgh 
Scotsman* 

Fort McRee, Florida, was named for Col. 
William McRee, the son of John McRee, of the 
Revolution, who emigrated from County Down, 
Ireland. 

Henry McShane, of Baltimore, founder of the 
McShane foundry bells, was born in Dundalk, 
Ireland. 

Commodore Thomas MacDonough, the hero 
of Lake Champlain in the war of 1812, was the 
son of Major MacDonough, who came from the 
north of Ireland, and served in the Revolution. 

Robert Shelton Mackenzie, the editor of the 
Philadelphia Press, in 1857, was born at Drew's 
Court, Limerick, Ireland. 

Gen. Alexander Macomb, the Adjutant-Gen- 
eral of the Army in the war of 181 2, major- 
general, and General-in-Chief of the Army, who 
defeated the British at Plattsburg, N. Y., under 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



71 



the command of Sir George Provost, was the 
son of Alexander Macomb, of Belfast, Ireland. 
His son, Commodore William Henry Macomb, 
commanded the Shamrock, 1864-65, and led the 
naval force that captured Plymouth, N. C, in 
October, 1864. 

James Madison, the fourth President of the 
United States, was the son of Eleanor Rose 
Conway, one of the Irish settlers of King George 
County, Virginia. 

John Newland Maffitt, of Confederate fame, 
who commanded the Florida, was the son of 
John Newland Maffitt, of Dublin, Ireland. 

Capt. Alfred Thayer Mahan, son of Denis Hart 
Mahan, served in the civil war, was president of 
the Naval War College at Newport, and was a 
member of the Naval Board during the Spanish- 
American war. President McKinley appointed 
him one of the Peace Commissioners at The 
Hague. He wrote the lives of Admirals Farragut 
and Nelson. 

Denis Hart Mahan, United States Engineer 
Corps, and instructor of engineering at West 
Point, led his class from the moment he entered 
the Military Academy until he graduated. He 
was appointed professor of mathematics while a 



7 2 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



third class man, a very unusual honor. He was 
the son of John and Mary ( Cleary ) Mahan, 
natives of Ireland. 

Gen. William Mahone, "The Hero of the 
Crater, ' ' so styled for his bravery at the explosion 
of General Grant's mine, was of Irish blood. As 
a Confederate brigade commander he was only 
excelled by ( ' Stonewall ' ' Jackson. 

Francis Makemie, born in the County Donegal, 
the " Apostle of the Accomac," is regarded the 
first Presbyterian clergyman in America. 

Col. John William Malett, chemist and author, 
and chief of the Confederate ordinance labora- 
tories, was born in Dublin, Ireland. 

Rev. Sylvester Malone, regent of the University 
of the State of New York, who built the first 
church of Gothic style in the State, was born at 
Trim, Ireland. 

Charles Marshall, of Philadelphia, Pa., the 
first president of the Philadelphia College of 
Pharmacy, was the grandson of Charles Marshall, 
of Dublin, Ireland. His descendant, Charles 
Marshall, of Germantown, Pa., was one of the 
founders of Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of 
the Revolution. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 73 

Christopher Marshall, born in Dublin, promi- 
nent chemist of Philadelphia, was with Wash- 
ington in the Revolution. 

. Col. George Matthews, the third governor of 
Georgia, was the son of John Matthews, who 
came from Ireland in 1737 and settled in Virginia. 
He fought with Washington at Brandywine and 
Germantown. 

William Henry Maxwell, editor of the Brook- 
lyn Times, and superintendent of public instruc- 
tion in Brooklyn, N. Y., was born in County 
Tyrone, Ireland. 

Col. Richard Kidder Meade, aide-de-camp to 
Washington, was the grandson of Andrew Meade, 
of the County Kerry, Ireland. Washington, 
when taking farewell leave of his aides at the end 
of the war, addressed him, "Friend Dick, you 
must go to a plantation in Virginia; you will 
make a good farmer and an honest foreman of 
the grand jury of the county where you live." 

Robert Meade, born in Ireland about 1700, 
the prominent merchant of Philadelphia, was the 
progenitor of George Meade, the patriot who 
contributed $10,000 to the patriot cause, and was 
one of the founders of St. Mary's Catholic 
Church, the oldest church of that denomination 



74 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



in Philadelphia. Gen. George Gordon Meade, 
the hero of Gettysburg, and his nephew, Rear 
Admiral Richard Worsam Meade, the first Presi- 
dent-General of the American-Irish Historical 
Society, were the descendants of George Meade, 
of Philadelphia. 

John Mease, "The last of the cocked hats," 
born in Strabane, Ireland, was one of the orig- 
inal members of the Philadelphia City Troop. 
He crossed the Delaware with Washington 
December 25, 1779, and contributed $20,000 for 
the army in 1780. 

Joseph Medill, of Irish ancestry, editor of the 
Chicago Tribune, was a journalist for forty years. 
Through his instrumentality the Chicago Public 
Library was established. 

Thomas Meehan, scientist and author, son of 
an Irishman, is authority for the principle that 
the vitality of plants determines their sex, and 
that snakes take in their mouths their young 
when in danger. 

Patrick Hues Mell, whose great- grandmother 
was Sarah Hues, daughter of Patrick Hues, an 
exile of Erin, was the inventor of the signal flags 
used in the United States Signal Service. He 
was chancellor of the University of Georgia. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



75 



Thomas Mellon, head of the firm of Thomas 
Mellon & Sons, bankers, at Pittsburg, Pa., was 
born in the County Tyrone, Ireland. 

Samuel Meredith, Secretary of the Treasury, a 
descendant of an Irishman, donated jointly with 
his brother-in-law, George Clymer, $50,000 to 
the cause of American independence. 

Thomas Michie, of Virginia, one of the most 
brilliant lawyers of that State, was born in Ire- 
land. 

Robert Milligan, president of the University of 
Kentucky, was born in the County Tyrone, Ire- 
land. 

The Millmore brothers executed the soldiers' 
and sailors' monuments in Boston Common, and 
the statuary in Horticultural Hall, in Boston, 
and also the statue of General Thayer, at West 
Point. They were born in the County Sligo, 
Ireland. 

John Miner, the son of an Irishman, originated 
the ' ' Miner Law, ' ' which regulates the manner 
of electing Presidential electors. 

Col. Robert Horatio Gates Minty, who com- 
manded the "Sabre Brigade," and captured 
Shelbyville, Tenn., in June, 1863, was born in the 



7 6 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



County Mayo, Ireland. He was colonel of the 
Fourth Michigan Cavalry. 

John Mitchell, the great labor leader, whose 
superior ability brought the coal barons to terms 
in the great strike of 1902, is the son of an Irish- 
man. 

James Monroe the fifth president of the United 
States, was the descendant of an Ulster Irish 
family that settled in Virginia in Colonial days. 

Gen. Richard Montgomery, born in Ireland, 
captured the first British colors in the Revolution. 
Before the walls of Quebec he addressed his men : 
" Men of York, you will not fear to follow where 
your general leads," and dashing forward was 
killed by a British battery. 

James Moore, born in Ireland, was Colonial 
governor of South Carolina. 

The Rev. Sheedy Morgan, born in Liscarroll, 
Ireland, was the first president of the first Summer 
School of America and the vice-president of the 
Catholic Total Abstinence Society of America. 
He, in concert with Dr. Hodges, of the Episcopal 
Church, organized Sunday afternoon concerts for 
the working people. He was founder of the 
Columbus Club and the Pittsburg Polytechnic 
Society. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



77 



Rev. Patrick Eugene Moriarty, born in Dublin, 
Ireland, founder and president of Villanova Col- 
lege, Pennsylvania, organized the first total 
abstinence society in America, in 1841, and was 
the first Catholic chaplain appointed by the British 
Government after the so-called Reformation. He 
was superior of the Augustinian Order in the 
United States. 

Paul Charles Morphy, the celebrated chess 
player, was of Irish blood. 

Samuel Morton, of Philadelphia, Pa., the son 
of an Irishman, was president of the Academy of 
Sciences. 

Edward Augustus Mosely, the secretary of the 
Interstate Commerce Commission, and the second 
President- General of the American- Irish Histori- 
cal Society, traces his descent from prominent 
Irishmen of Colonial da3^s. It is to him that the 
country is indebted for the life-saving appliances 
adopted by the railroads which have saved thou- 
sands of lives and limbs annually. 

Gen. Stephen Moylan, the Sheridan of the 
Revolution, was the first president of the Friendly 
Sons of St. Patrick society of Philadelphia. 

Samuel Morton, of Philadelphia, Pa., the son 



73 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



of an Irishman, was president of the Academy of 
Sciences. 

Rear- Admiral James Robert Mullany, born of 
Irish parents, captured eleven blockade runners 
during the civil war, and lost his right arm in 
the fight in Mobile Bay. The Mullanys are 
much in evidence in the history of the country. 
Patrick Francis Mullany (" Brother Azarius"), 
the profound scholar, psychologist, and author, 
was born in the County Tipperary, Ireland. He 
was a member of the celebrated order of teachers, 
The Brothers of the Christian Schools. His 
brother, Rev. John F. Mullany, is patron of art 
and science. 

Col. James A. Mulligan, the hero of Lexington, 
in the civil war, when mortally wounded, cried 
to the men who tried to carry him from the field, 
' ' Lay me down and save the flag. ' ' 

The Murphys and McKlhones, reporters of the 
Senate and House of Representatives, were all 
Irish. One of the brothers, D. I. Murphy, filled 
the exalted office of Commissioner of Pensions 
with credit. 

Captain Murphy, in command of the Fourteenth 
Battalion, in the Spanish-American war, captured 
Bloody Lane, February 5, 1899. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



79 



Francis Murphy, the famous temperance 
preacher, who brought 10,000,000 persons to sign 
the pledge, was born in the County Wexford, 
Ireland. 

John Francis Murphy, artist, took Webb's prize 
of the Society of American Artists in 1887, and 
the second Halgarten prize in 1885. 

Richard Joseph us Murphy, of the Chicago 
Herald, was the press secretary of the World's 
Columbian Exposition. 

W. D. Murphy, artist, painted the portrait of 
President McKinley, which was selected from 
many other competitors to hang in the White 
House. 

Dr. J. B. Murphy, professor of surgery in the 
Northwestern University, was the inventor of the 
" Anastomosis Button." 

Charles Murray, born in Dublin, Ireland, artist, 
was selected to paint the scenic figures for the 
Dramatic Festival held in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 
1883. 

Rev. Nicholas Murray, born in Ireland, was 
the founder of the New Jersey Historical Society. 
He carried on a controversy with Archbishop 
Hughes, of New York, under the name of Kirwin. 

Thomas Hamilton Murray, journalist and 



8o 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



author, and one of the founders of the American- 
Irish Historical Society, and its secret ary- general, 
is an authority on Irish questions, both biogra- 
phic and historical, from Colonial days to the 
present time, in America. 

Miss Nano Nagle, born in the County Cork, 
Ireland, was the founder of the Presentation 
Sisterhood in America. 

John Maxwell Nesbitt, born in Ireland, presi- 
dent of the society of the Friendly Sons of St. 
Patrick, enlisted in the Philadelphia City Troop 
in 1777. . He was associated with Robert Morris 
as director of the 1 ' Bank of North America' ' and 
subscribed $25,000 to the patriot cause. 

John Nesmith, born in Londonderry, N. H., 
was the grandson of Thomas Nesmith, whose 
father, James Nesmith, emigrated from London- 
derry, Ireland, and was the founder of London- 
derry, N. H. 

McFadden Alexander Newell, born in Belfast, 
Ireland, was president of the National Educational 
Association and principal of the Maryland State 
Normal School. 

Gen. Lewis Nichola, born in Dublin, Ireland, 
was one of the original members of the Pennsyl- 
vania branch of the Society of the Cincinnati. 
He established the American Magazine in 1769- 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



81 



Monsignor D. J. O'Connell, late president of 
the American College at Rome, is now rector of 
the Catholic University of America. 

Jeremiah D. O'Connell, chief of division in the 
Statistical Bureau of the Treasury Department 
for over a quarter of a century, was born in the 
County Cork, Ireland. He had no superior as a 
faithful and competent officer of the civil service. 

Capt. J. J. O'Connell, First United States 
Infantry, now colonel Thirtieth United States In- 
fantry, commanded the first American troops 
that landed on Cuban soil in the Spanish- American 
war. He struck the first blow for Cuban freedom 
after landing at Arbilitis Point, May 12, 1898. 

Capt. J. J. O'Connell, Twenty-first United 
States Infantry, now captain Twenty-eighth 
United States Infantry, received the surrender of 
General Aquinos, the Philippine general, with 
sixty-four stands of arms and ammunition. 

Maurice D. O'Connell is solicitor for the 
Treasury Department at Washington. His name 
indicates his ancestry. 

Charles O' Conor, the son of an Irish journalist, 
the brilliant member of the New York bar, was 
nominated for President of the United States by 
a wing of the Democratic party. 



82 



THE GAELIC LANGUAGE 



Rev. Eugene O'Growney, editor of the Gaelic 
Journal, and vice-president of the Gaelic League, 
was the leader of the Irish language movement 
in America. He was the author of works for 
students in the Irish language. 



THE GAELIC LANGUAGE 

The Keltic Tongue! — then must it die ? Say, shall our 

language go ? 
No ! By Ulfadha's kingly soul ! By sainted Laurence, 

no ! 

No ! By the shades of saints and chiefs, of holy name 
and high, 

Whose deeds, as they have lived with it, must die 

when it shall die — 
No ! By the memories of the past that round our ruin 

twine — 

No ! By our evening hope of suns in coming days to 
shine. 

It shall not go — it must not die — the language of our 
sires, 

While Erin's glory glads our souls or freedom's name 
inspires. 

That lingering ray from stars gone down — Oh, let its 
light remain ! 

That last bright link with splendors flown — Oh, snap 
it not in twain ! 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



§3 



Capt. James O'Hara, of the Third Artillery, 
now lieutenant-colonel, went on the double quick 
at Manila, without orders, at a crisis — when the 
ammunition gave out. He sounded the assembly, 
"forward," as he went, to let the bo3^s know 
that help was nearing. 

Rear- Admiral Charles O'Neil, chief of the 
Bureau of Ordnance, United States Navy, is a 
worthy scion of an ancient and illustrious Irish 
house. 

Capt. William O'Neill, of Roosevelt's Rough 
Riders, heroically fought at Santiago, where, he 
was killed in the charge of the Rough Riders. 
His career was one of the most striking in the 
Spanish- American war. He brought with him 
cowboys, miners, and citizens to the number of 
about three hundred, to join the Rough Riders. 

Robert Patterson, born in the County Tyrone, 
Ireland, was the senior major-general, United 
States Army, at the commencement of the civil 
war. 

Col. James Patton, born in Ireland, was killed 
by the Indians in 1775. He left two daughters 
from whom were descended Governors John B. 
Floyd and James D. Breckenridge, of I+ouisville, 



8 4 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



Ky., and Col. William P. Anderson, United 
States Army. 

Robert Patton, born in Westport, Ireland, in 
1755, served under Lafayette in the Revolution 
with the rank of major. He subscribed $60,000 
for the Government when all considered it lost, 
stating, ' ' If my country be ruined, my property 
will be valueless." His son, William Patton, 
was the founder of the New York Theological 
Seminary. His grandson, William Weston Pat- 
ton, Provost of Howard University, Washington 
City, presented President Lincoln the Chicago 
memorial asking that the emancipation procla- 
mation be issued. 

Sarah Alexander Perry, the mother of Com- 
modore Perry, the hero of Lake Erie, was born 
in Newry, Ireland. She was an enthusiast in 
the cause of Irish independence. 

Edgar Allan Poe, the poet, was a descendant 
£>f John Poe, of Ireland, who settled in Pennsyl- 
vania in 1745. His grandfather, David, fought 
•in the Revolution. 

Robert Pollock, name contracted to Polk, born 
fn Ireland, emigrated to America, and was the 
ancestor of James Knox Polk, the eleventh 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



85 



president of the United States. He was con- 
sidered the author of the Mecklenburg Declara- 
tion of Independence. 

Robert Porter, born in Ireland, settled in 
Londonderry, N. EL, and was buried at Norris- 
town, Pa. His son Andrew, fought in the Revo- 
lution, and was brigadier-general of the Pennsyl- 
vania National Guard. His grandson, Horace 
Porter, was General Grant's bosom friend, and 
one of the most distinguished officers of the civil 
war. Gen. Horace Porter received from General 
Grant the flag that was carried in the Wilderness 
and waved over headquarters at the surrender. 

Mary Proctor, astronomer, who lectured on 
the wonders of starland before the children at the 
World's Fair at Chicago, was born in Ireland. 

Gen. Thomas Proctor, of the Revolution, was 
born in Ireland, in 1739. The Second United 
States Artillery of our day represents the 
organization of Proctor's artillery of the Revo- 
lution. He was satirized by Major Andre in the 
"Cow Chase." 

Sons of distant Delaware, 
And still remoter Shannon, 
And Major Lee with horses rare, 
And Proctor with his cannon. 



86 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



Hugh Young Purviance, naval officer, of Irish 
descent, captured the Confederate privateer 
"Petrel" off the coast of Charleston, S. C., the 
first naval prize captured in the civil war. 

Bishop William Quarter, born in Kings County 
Ireland, was the first bishop of Chicago, 111. 

Matthew Stanley Quay, the superb Pennsyl- 
vania political organizer, is of Irish ancestry. 
He served in the civil war, was colonel of the 
One hundred and thirty-fourth Pennsylvania 
Volunteers, and was complimented for bravery 
in General Orders and received the Congressional 
medal. 

Gen. William Quinton, soldier of the civil, 
Spanish- American and Philippine wars, was born 
in Ireland. His son, Capt. William W. Quinton, 
is a surgeon in the United States Army. 

George Read, of Irish descent, signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, was chief justice 
of Delaware. He received his education from 
Dr. Francis Allison, the famous Irish teacher. 

Dr. William Stephen Rainsford, graduate of 
St. John's College, Cambridge, Eng., and 
pastor of St. George's Church, New York City, 
served as chaplain of the Seventy-first New York 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



87 



Volunteers in the civil war. He was born in 
Dublin, Ireland. He abolished pew rents and 
made the sittings in his church free, a practice 
more in accord with early Christian da^-s. 

Alexander Rainsey, the first territorial gover- 
nor of Minnesota, was the grandson of Alexander 
Ramsey, a native of Ireland, who served in the 
war of the Revolution. He was appointed Secre- 
tary of War in 1879 and was the founder of the 
Republican organization of the West. He was 
the last of the war governors. 

Gen. John Aaron Rawlins, born of Irish 
parents, was Secretary of War and chief of staff 
to General Grant. A bronze statue has been 
placed in one of the public squares of Washington 
City to his nieinor}-. 

Rear- Admiral George Campbell Read, born in 
Ireland, distinguished in the fight between the 
Constitution and the Guerriere, August 19, 1812, 
received the sword of Captain Dacres, the van- 
quished officer. 

John H. Regan, born of Irish ancestry, in 
Tennessee, was the postmaster-general of the 
Confederacy. He was loyal to the core to Jeffer- 



88 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



son Davis, whom he accompanied in his flight to 
Greensboro, N. C, and to Washington, Ga. 

Ada Rehan, actress, born in Limerick, Ireland, 
was one of the most distinguished of Shakes- 
perian commediennes. 

Mayne Reid, author, who led the forlorn hope 
at Chapultepec, was born in Ireland. In 1849 
he raised a regiment in New York for the Hun- 
garian insurrection. 

Capt. Henry Reilly, Fifth Artillery, a graduate 
of West Point, distinguished himself in China, 
and fell gallantly fighting in the charge of the 
Fifth Artillery before the walls of Pekin. 

Gov. John Reynolds, of Illinois, who took the 
field with Capt. Abraham Lincoln, afterward 
President Lincoln, against Black Hawk, and 
completely defeated him at Bad Axe, 111., was 
born of Irish parents. 

Col. William V. Richards, so often brevetted 
for gallant and meritorious services during the 
civil war, was born in Ireland. 

Charles Valentine Rile}^, of Irish ancestry, 
entomologist, first recommended the extermin 
ator of the ' ' potato bug, ' ' paris green. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



8 9 



James Whitcomb Riley, the " Hoosier Poet," 
who has written so many exquisite gems, and 
who is a member of the American-Irish Historical 
Society, is of Irish blood. 

Archbishop Patrick William Riordan, of San 
Francisco, Cal., one of the ablest of the Catholic 
hierarchy in the West, was born in Ireland. 

John Roach, of Chester, Pa., the great ship- 
builder for the Government, was born in the 
County Cork, Ireland. 

Archibald Roane, the second governor of 
Tennessee, served in the Revolution. He was 
the son of Andrew Roane, who emigrated from 
Ireland, and settled in Lancaster County, Pa., in 
1736, then known as Donegal and Derry. 

Theodore Roosevelt, the twenty-fifth president 
of the United States proved that he was of the 
blood of the ' ' Fighting Race ' ' when colonel of 
the Rough Riders at Santiago. 

Rosed'Erina ("O' Toole"), organist and vocal- 
ist, was born in the County Armagh, Ireland. She 
was invited to represent Irish music at the Paris 
Exposition. She sung before the Emperor and 
Empress of France. 



go 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



Vice- Admiral Stephen Clegg Rowan, born in \| 
Dublin, Ireland, served in the Mexican and civil 
wars. He awed Alexandria into submission in 
the civil war by covering her with his guns. He 
received the thanks of Congress for his services. 

Mother Mary Russell, superioress of the Sisters 
of Mercy in San Francisco, Cal., was born in 
Newry, Ireland. I^ord Chief Justice Russell, of 
England, was of the same family. 

Thomas Jefferson Rusk, Secretary of War, 
commander-in-chief and brigadier-general of the 
Republic of Texas, was the son of an Irish stone- 
mason. 

Rev. Abraham Joseph R}^an, the poet-priest of 
the South, was born of Irish parents. He was 
the author of ' ' The Conquered Banner. ' ' His 
poetical strains went forth in the following lines, 
in memory of a brother who fell in the gap in 
defense of the South : 



Young as the youngest who donned the gray, 
True as the truest who wore it, 
Brave as the bravest he marched away 
(Hot tears on the cheeks of his mother lay), 
Triumphant waved our flag one day — 
He fell in the front before it. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



91 



'P&h-icft J ffigs Ryan, archbishop of Philadelphia, Pa., 
was born in the County Tipperary, Ireland. He 
is one of the brightest lights and gifted orators of 
the Catholic hierarchy in America. 

Rev. James Ryder, born in Dublin, Ireland, 
was president of Georgetown University and the 
Father Provincial of the Jesuit Fathers in the 
United States. 

Mary Ann Sadlier (Madden), who married 
James Sadlier, the publisher, was born in the 
County Cavan, Ireland. She is one of Erin's 
most gifted daughters in prose and poetry. 

Rear- Admiral William Thomas Sampson, the 
son of an Irishman, was commander of the fleet 
that captured the Spanish fleet under Admiral 
Cervera. 

Raphael Semmes, of Confederate notoriety, 
commander of the Alabama, was of Irish ancestry. 

William H. Seward, Secretary of State under 
President Lincoln, was of Irish blood on the ma- 
ternal side. 

Gen. William Joyce Sewell, soldier in the civil 
war and the leader of the Republican party of 
New Jersey, was born in Castlebar, Ireland. He 
commanded a brigade at Chancellorsville. 



9 2 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



Dr. Thomas Joseph Shahan, of the Catholic 
University of America, was one of the founders 
of the Gaelic chair in that institution. 

Naval Commander John Shaw, born in Queen's 
County, Ireland, when in command of the Enter- 
prise, forced the French frigate Flai7ibeau to strike 
her colors in forty minutes, for which the Presi- 
dent personalty thanked him. This was the most 
brilliant victory of the war of 1798. 

Matthew Simpson, whose grandmother on the 
paternal side came from the County Tyrone, Ire- 
land, was the first president of De Pauw Univer- 
sity, formerty the Indiana Asbury University. 
Bishop Simpson was the first to suggest the 
emancipation proclamation. 

John Sloan, of Irish ancestry, was Secretary of 
the Treasury under President Fillmore. 

Samuel Sloan, born in Belfast, Ireland, was 
one of the most prominent railroad presidents in 
the country. 

Charles Henry Smith ("Bill Arp"), of Irish 
descent, whose mother's maiden name was Caro- 
line Maguire, was humorist and writer, and rose 
to the rank of major in the Confederate army. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



93 



Robert Smith, born in Londonderry, Ireland, 
founded the theological seminary of Pequea, Pa. 
His son, Rev. Samuel Stanhope Smith, was 
president of Princeton, and John Blair Smith, 
another son, was president of Union College. 

Charles Ferguson Smith, grandson of John Blair 
Smith, a graduate of West Point, was one of the 
storming party at Monterey, for which he was 
brevetted lieutenant-colonel. At the outbreak 
of the civil war he was in command of the 
defenses of Washington City. He stormed the 
Confederate heights at Fort Donelson that com- 
manded the fort and carried them. 

Alexander Smyth, born in the island of Rathlin, 
Dublin, Ireland, was appointed colonel by 
President Jefferson. He was inspector-general 
of the army in 1812, and the author of "Regula- 
tions for the Infantry. ' ' 

Dr. Andrew Woods Smyth, born in London- 
derry, Ireland, was the first surgeon who success- 
fully performed the operation of ligation of the 
arteria inominata for subclavian aneurism. He 
made the first successful reduction of luxation of 
the femur in 1866, and in 1879 he performed the 
operation of nephrotomy. 



94 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



Martin John Spaulding, the seventh archbishop 
of Baltimore, Md., was of Irish descent. His 
great-grandmother was BUen O'Brien. 

Rev. Dr. D. J. Stafford, of Washington, D. C, 
noted Shakesperian scholar and orator, who 
represented Cardinal Gibbons at the ceremony of 
unveiling the bronze statue of General Count de 
Rochambeau in Washington, is the son of Irish 
parents. The capital of the nation witnessed on 
this occasion for the first time in its history the 
marching and swinging into line of French sea- 
men on Pennsylvania avenue, and cheering in 
chorus with the American soldiers and blue 
jackets, blending with the strains of the Star 
Spangled Banner and the Marseillaise. 

Rear-Admiral Charles Stewart, who com- 
manded "Old Ironsides," was born of Irish 
parents. His daughter, Delia Tudor Stewart 
Parnell, was the mother of Charles Stewart 
Parnell, Ireland's "uncrowned king." 

Gen. James Bwell Brown Stuart, the Sheridan 
of the Confederate army, was a descendant on 
the paternal side of Archibald Stuart, of London- 
derry, Ireland, and on the maternal side of Giles 
Fletcher, an Irishman. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



95 



Gen. Thomas William Sweeny, born in the 
County Cork, Ireland, was a hero of the Mexican 
and civil wars. At Shiloh he was charged with 
the key of the situation, and proved himself 
worthy of the trust. General Sherman said of it : 
' ' I attach more importance to that event than to 
any of the hundred achievements which I have 
since heard saved the day." On July 22, 1864, 
before Atlanta, he captured four battle flags and 
made nine hundred prisoners. General Blair 
grasped his hand, exclaiming: "Sweeny, I con- 
gratulate you. You have saved the Army of the 
Tennessee." 

Ethelbert Talbot was the first Protestant Epis- 
copal bishop of Wyoming and Idaho. He was the 
grandson of Prof. Lawrence Daly, a graduate of 
Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. 

James Tanner ( ' ' Corporal Tanner " ) , of Wash- 
ington, late Commissioner of Pensions, is of Irish 
lineage. He stood by the deathbed of the 
lamented President Lincoln. His legs were shat- 
tered by a shell at the second battle of Bull Run, 
which necessitated amputation. He was one of 
the founders of the Soldiers' Home in Bath, N. Y. , 
and advised a similar one in Richmond for the 
Confederate veterans. 



9 6 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



William Tennent, of New Jersey, born in Ire- 
land, was the founder of ' ' The Log College ' ' at 
Neshaminy, Pa., and of Nassau Hall, afterward 
Princeton College. 

Launt Thompson, sculptor, vice-president of 
the National Academy of Design, was born in 
Queen's County, Ireland. He designed statues 
of many of the most eminent historical characters 
in the world. 

Luke Tiernan, merchant, of Baltimore, Md., 
born in the County Meath, Ireland, was the first 
to engage in shipping between Baltimore and 
Liverpool; was active in the war of 1812, and 
was the president of the Hibernian Society of 
Maryland. His wife was president of the Balti- 
more Orphan Asylum, the first institution of its 
kind in America. Henry Clay spoke of him as 
' ' the amiable and philanthropic friend of man. ' ' 

Rear- Admiral Joseph Trilley, United States 
Navy, was born in Ireland. 

Michael Emmet Urell, soldier of the civil and 
Spanish- American wars and commander-in-chief 
of the Spanish- American Veterans, was born in 
the town of Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland. 

Hugh Waddell, born in Lisburn, Ireland, rose 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



97 



to the rank of major-general and led the first 
armed force against the landing of the British 
stamps in 1765. 

James Iredell Waddell, the great-grandson of 
Gen. Hugh Waddell, was an officer in the United 
States Navy before the civil war and served in 
the Mexican war. He entered the Confederate 
service and commanded the Louisiana, with 
which he captured 32 vessels. The Louisiana 
was the only Confederate vessel that carried the 
Confederate flag around the world. 

Rev. James Waddell, the blind preacher of the 
Presbyterian church in Virginia, and famous 
orator, was born in Newry, Ireland, in 1739. 

Moses Waddell, fifth president of the Univer- 
sity of Georgia, came from the neighborhood of 
Belfast, Ireland. 

William Vincent Wallace, musician, born in 
Waterford, Ireland, composed the opera, " Mari- 
tana. ' ' He was of superior ability as a musician. 

William Thompson Walters, of Irish ancestry, 
was president of the first line of steamers plying 
between Baltimore and the South. He was the 
first that introduced the Percheron breed of 
horses into the United States, in 1866. He 



9 S 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



adorned the four public squares in the vicinity 
of the Washington monument, in Baltimore, with 
works of art. 

Dr. John Watson, born in Loudonderrj 7 , Ire- 
land, was president of the New York Academy 
of Medicine, and was one of the founders of the 
New York Medical and Surgical Association. 

Thomas A. E. Weadock, born in the County 
Wexford, Ireland, was one of seven brothers, the 
eldest of whom served in the civil war. He was 
the champion in the House of Representatives of 
placing the Marquette statue in Statuary Hall. 

Major John Whistler, born in the province of 
Ulster, Ireland, served in the First United States 
Infantry, and completed Fort Dearborn, now the 
site of the cit}^ of Chicago. His son, Col. William 
Whistler, was the senior officer of the United 
States Army, with the exception of Gen. Win- 
field Scott. 

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, the famous 
artist and satirist, who died recently in London, 
was a lineal descendant of Major John Whistler, 
of Ulster, Ireland. He was unequalled as the 
painter of the night and the sea, and was one of 
the most entertaining writers of the day. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



99 



William Pinkney White, the thirty-eighth 
governor of Maryland, was the son of Joseph 
White, a native of Ireland. 

William Heth Whitsitt, chaplain in the Con- 
federate arm}-, and president of the Southern 
Baptist Theological Seminary, at Louisville, Ky. , 
was the grandson of the Rev. James Whitsitt, of 
Nashville, Tenn. , whose father, William, was 
born in Ireland. 

Barney Williams, stage name of Bernard 
O'Flahert}-, was born in Cork. He was manager 
of Broadway Theater, New York. 

Henry Wilson, the Vice-President of the United 
States, was the son of a farmer whose progenitor 
came from the north of Ireland. 

These are only a few blossoms plucked on the 
highway- from the great flower garden planted 
by Erin in America. 

What has Ireland contributed to the material 
prosperity of the country and its physical develop- 
ment ? 

" 111 fares the land to hastening ills a prey, 
Where wealth accumulates and men decay; 
Princes and lords may nourish or may fade, 
A breath can make them as a breath has made; 
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride, 
Once destroyed can never be supplied, i * 



IOO 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



Were it not for generations of Irish laborers 
- 1 the buffalo might still be browsing in the Gene- 
see Valley and Forty-second street, New York 
City, be out of town. 

Ireland has given us a Matthew Cary, the 
greatest political economist of his age, the father 
of American protection and the founder of the 
first Sunday-school society in the United States. 

The projector of the great Erie Canal, the most 
extensive bod} r of fresh water in America, was 
Irish by extraction, De Witt Clinton, governor of 
New York. 

The first American railway was built by Gridl}- 
Bryant, of the same blood. 

All the great railroad trunks in the country 
were built by men of the same race, great rail- 
road contractors, such as the Ryans, of Phila- 
delphia. 

Another Irishman, A. T. Stewart, of New 
York, conducted the most extensive dry goods 
business in the world. 

The greatest political society ever organized 
was founded by William Mooney, an Irishman, 
in 1788, called the Columbian Order, afterward 
named Tammany, after an Indian chief. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



IOI 



George Berkeley, of County Derry, Ireland, 
afterwards Bishop of Cloyne, arrived in Newport 
in 1729. He was celebrated as a philosopher and 
metaphysician and was an enthusiast in every- 
thing American. He made a gift of his farm in 
Newport to Yale, and of valuable works to both 
Yale and Harvard. He was the author of the 
memorable lines beginning, ' ' Westward the 
course of Empire takes its way . " 

The first president of an educational institution 
south of Mason and Dixon's line to open its doors 
to the colored race was an Irishman, Bishop 
Keane, of the Catholic University of America. 
By his indomitable will and untiring energy he 
founded the great university, a monument to 
science as lasting as the stars and stripes, over 
which they proudly wave. This distinguished 
orator, scholar, and Christian prelate, was born in 
County Donegal, Ireland. 

What do we owe to the Emerald Isle in the 
light of journalism and statesmanship? The 
knights of the quill of Irish birth and extraction 
show conclusively that the pen is mightier than 
the sword. They show also by their sparkling 
wit and humor the composition of their race. 



102 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



They stand in the front ranks as editors, re- 
porters, journalists, and statesmen. 

Gen. Fitz James O'Brien, on the staff of Gen- 
eral Lander, \yas a brilliant writer in prose and 
verse. He died of wounds received in battle in 
the civil war. 

Edward Bailey O'Callaghan was historian of 
the State of New York, editor and physician. 

William Erglea Robinson, "Old Richelieu," 
was Congressman, and a brilliant journalist. 

John Boyle O'Reilly was patriot, poet, and 
journalist. 

Hon. Patrick Ford, editor and proprietor of 
the Irish World, is a brilliant and forcible writer, 
and was a great friend of James G. Blaine. 

Charles O' Conor was the first great criminal 
lawyer of his day. 

Thomas Devin Reilly, the brilliant young jour- 
nalist, wrote the state document in the cele- 
brated Kosta case. He sleeps in Mount Olivet 
Cemetery, Washington, D. C. The Sons of the 
Gael erected a beautiful monument to his memorj^. 
His beloved wife and little daughter Molly sleep 
beside him. 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



I03 



'* God rest you Devin Reilly in- the place of your choice, 
Where the blessed dew is falling and the flowers have 
a voice, 

Where the conscious trees are bending in homage to 
the dead, 

And the earth is swelling upward like a pillow for your 
head, v 

Robert Fulton, the practical inventor of the 
steamboat, was of the Irish race. 

In every department of the civil service the 
records made by Irishmen are honorable and 
gratif}-ing. History has never recorded the case 
of an Irish defaulter in the civil service branch 
of the Government. They discharge public 
office as a public trust. From the humble clerk 
in the department to the head of the bureau, 
their records are without blemish. An incident 
in this connection came to my personal knowledge. 
A clerk, Irish by birth, and of a distinguished 
name, whose record as a man and as an officer, 
was without blemish, a man having the courage 
of his convictions, received the " Yellow Cover." 
Two days after he was handed his last pay, and 
counting the money, he discovered he was over- 
paid. He at once returned it to the ladydisburS- 



104 FAMOUS AMERICANS 

ing clerk, who spoke out: "I never knew an 

to do a dishonorable act." God bless 

the noble-hearted woman for the kind words. 
She still has in her keeping the funds of the 
Government, which she holds as a sacred deposit, 
esteemed and beloved by all who know her, as 
typical of the finest traits of womanhood. 

Irishmen have represented the American 
Republic abroad under all adminstrations. It is 
needless to say with distinction equal to the 
distinguished valor of their brethern who wrote 
the Declaration of Independence and quenched 
the fires of secession by their blood, proclaiming 
in thunder of artillery this Great Republic to be 
for all time one and indissoluble. 

It has been conceded by all impartial writers 
that of all nationalities there is none that more 
readily or more naturally assimilates as an 
American citizen or forms a more integral part of 
the Great Republic than the Irishman. Ever} 7 
true American feels, knows, and enthusiastically 
declares that of all human emotions there is none 
more powerful as an incentive to grand and noble 
deeds than that which brings us back to the spot 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 105 

where we first received a mother's smile, a 
father's blessing, to the cradle of our childhood, 
the playground of our boyhood, the theater of 
our manhood. I appeal to every battlefield of 
the Revolution, from Stony Point to Yorktown, 
upon which Irish blood flowed freely, and the 
Irish Sunburst waved side by side with the Red, 
White, and Blue. I appeal to Wayne's bayonets, 
Knox's artillery, and Morgan's rifles. 

" New force we want to stem the brunt, 
So bring the Irish to the front. " 

They were brought to the front at Stony 
Point, Monmouth, Bennington, King's Moun- 
tain, and the Cowpens. I appeal to the volcanic 
heights, the towers, the gates, the cactus-circled 
fortresses of Mexico. I appeal to the bloody 
slopes of Malvern Hill, the crimson stone wall of 
Fredericksburg, the deadly swamps of the 
Chickahominy, the thickets of the Wilderness, 
the purple waters of Antietam, and the Bloody 
Angle at Gettysburg. I appeal to the hundred 
fields now billowed with Irish graves to prove 
that never man fought more devotedly or more 
heroically for the inviolability of the Stars and 



106 FAMOUS AMERICANS 

Stripes and the indissolubility of the Union than* 
did the men who cherished in their hearts the 
memories and love of their native land. 

Their fame will live as long as the Great 
Republic herself — yea, while mountains raise 
their summits to the sky and rivers journey 
onward to the sea — 

11 While fame her record keeps 
Or Honor points the hallowed spot 
Where Valor proudly sleeps. »* 

The words ' ' Old Ireland, ' ' are carved on every 
tree that falls before the axe of the Irish emi- 
grant. The smoke ascending to the clouds from 
the old log cabin in the center of the clearing 
in the virgin forest of the far West pay homage to 
the words, ' 'Old Ireland. " The words are carved 
on monuments of stone in our churches, in our 
cemeteries, and on statues and under several 
signatures of the framers of the Constitution and, 
the signers of the Declaration of Independence. 
The emigrant depots and large towns on the 
Atlantic seaboard resound with the words, ' 1 Old- 
Ireland." The thousands of railroads, and the 
huge engines that rattle over them thunder forth 
the words. The words, "Old Ireland," are em- 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



IO7 



blazoned on every battlefield of the Revolution 
from Stony Point to Yorktown, and on every fold 
of the starry banner from Gett}^sburg to Atlanta. 
The names of Sheridan, Sullivan, Shields, Jack- 
son, Calhoun and Carroll are as suggestive of the 
words, <( Old Ireland," as those of Emmet, Fitz- 
gerald and Tone. The same spirit that hanged 
the latter at home would have hanged the former 
abroad had the patriots of 1776 been drowned in 
the Delaware by the hireling Hessians and Red 
Coats. 

Statesmen and demagogues pronounce the 
words with peculiar emphasis on election day 
when they are put in the ballot-box by the tens 
of thousands. They lead millions to victory 
whether by the sword or by the ballot. May 
God grant that the same words, " Old Ireland," 
will be carved in letters of gold on Erin's green 
banner and be swung to the breeze from Tara's 
old hall, proclaiming by the hosannas of her 
people, amid the thunders of artillery, that Ire- 
land has again taken her station among the 
nations of the earth, when the epitaph of the 
immortal Emmet will be written. "Let not my 
epitaph be written until my country takes her 



108 FAMOUS AMERICANS 

place among the nations of the earth. Then, 
and not till then, let my epitaph be written." 
Here is to dear old Ireland! brave old Ireland! 
Ireland! boys! hurrah! 

Irishmen, you, with the sons of Irishmen, are 
20,000,000 freemen. You help to wield the 
destiny of the greatest Republic that the world 
has ever seen or heard of. The country that 
gave you birth is writhing under the galling 
Saxon yoke. Her bleeding breast heaves with 
the breath of returning life. Why not win for 
her what you won for your adopted country, the 
inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness ? The golden prize for which you 
have yearned and toiled and suffered so long is 
within your grasp. Win it by one grand, great 
dash, shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand. All 
lovers of liberty will wish you Godspeed. The 
starry banner will smile encouragingly on her 
sister, Sunburst, in grateful remembrance of the 
heroic bravery of her sons in the cause of 
American liberty. The spirit of the brave, who 
now languish in the tombs of tyranny, British 
dungeons, will be liberated and the civilized 
world will join in one grand chorus of jubilation 



FAMOUS AMERICANS IO9 

as the Harp of Tara, now so mute, swells to the 
magic touch of Freedom. Irishmen! spring to 
your feet, spring up from your apathy and 
slavery! Seize the sword, the pike, the cannon, 
and win for yourselves and children's children 
the spurs of nationhood. 

In conclusion, I greet you, in the language of 
the flag of our country, emblematic of all the 
blessings conferred on the human race, and robed 
in the majesty of which we in this day, enjoy 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Under 
its folds our fathers of 1776 reared the fabric of 
this Republic. Under its fostering care it has 
grown to be a monument of solid sunshine, a 
beacon light of liberty, with the stars and stripes 
winding around and around it as a winding stair 
of light, towering into the infinite, proclaiming 
"liberty throughout all the land and to all the 
inhabitants thereof. ' ' 

The starry banner will become in time the flag 
of the universe. The future belongs to it and to 
it alone. It will become the emblem of the heart, 
the emblem of all that man holds dear; inmost 
poetry of each human soul. Within its folds are 
wrapped the interests of liberty and civilization 



no 



FAMOUS AMERICANS 



till time will be no more. Under that banner all 
people will worship their Creator untrammelled. 
They will learn to know the destiny of their 
being and that the title, American citizen, is far 
dearer than all the patents of nobility or the 
diadems of/the Csesars. 




THE IRISH 



IN THE 



REVOLUTION 

AND THE 

CIVIL WAR 

REVISED AND ENLARGED 




Embracing 

The Spanish-American and Philippine Wars 
And Every Walk of Life 



PRICE - ONE DOLLAR 



PRESS NOTICES 



The second edition of Dr. J. C. O'Connell's interest- 
ing little pamphlet, "The Irish in the Revolution and 
in the Civil War," which the genial author modestly 
describes as an " Address to the Gaels of Erin and their 
descendants," is just from the press. The first edition 
was disposed of in less than two months, and so great 
was the demand from individuals in the most remote 
parts of the country that the second was made nec- 
essary. Dr. O'Connell's pamphlet is an interesting 
contribution to the history of an interesting people. — 
Washington Times, March 22, 1896. 

"The Irish in the Revolution and in the Civil War'' 
is the title of a pamphlet by Dr. J. C O'Connell. It is 
a telling record of Irish loyalty to the American 
Republic. The Washington Post calls it " A terse and 
yet eloquent eulogy on all the famous men of Irish 
blood who fought and died for their adopted country. 
They were staunch friends and fighters for American 
independence." This excellent and timely pamphlet 
can be had by addressing Dr. J. C. O'Connell, Wash- 
ington, D. C. — Freeman Journal, New York City, May 
9, 1896. 

"A very able article by Dr. O'Connell, brother of 
Capt. John J. O'Connell, First Infantry (now colonel of 
the Thirtieth United States Infantry). Without ex- 
ception, one of the most important additions to history 
and one that will be thoroughly read and well appre- 
ciated throughout the world." — Army and Navy 
Register. 



PRESS NOTICES 



The second edition of Dr. Jeffery C. O'Connell's 
little ten-page booklet has just been issued. The 
author has revised the book, making- it more complete 
and thorough. This attractive historical pamphlet 
will prove a valuable addition to all public, libraries. 
The author has evidently devoted considerable time 
to historical research, scanning war records, delving 
into archives of the past, tracing the footprints of his 
race with a pen that adds additional luster to the 
heroic deeds of the Irish-American patriots, with a 
result that those of our citizens of Irish descent whose 
fathers fought in the Revolution may well feel proud 
of the record made by their race with Washington and 
his compatriots on every battlefield, from Stony Point 
to Yorktown, and with Grant and Sheridan, from 
Gettysburg to Atlanta. Dr. O'Connell presents indis- 
putable evidence of the achievements of his race in the 
Revolution and in the Civil War, as well as in every 
walk and sphere of life. The author, in eloquent and 
masterly diction, begins each great conflict, describing 
how generals and privates, the sons of the Gael and 
their descendants, stood shoulder to shoulder with their 
fellow-citizens in defense of American liberty, in pro- 
claiming "liberty throughout the land and to all the 
inhabitants thereof," in sealing by their blood the 
compact that the Union for all time shall be one and 
indissoluble. — Washington Post, April 30, 1896, 

"The Stars and Stripes and' the Emerald Green, 
with the Harp of Erin, will be worshipped while the 
world endures. There is no page of history written 
that does not bear the impress of the Celt. There is 
no field of honor, civic or martial, where he is not." — 
/. Emory Byram. 



